Blog

The Olympic Ban on Afro Swim Caps Is a Massive Lesson for Enterprise Leaders

  • Soul Cap tried to get its swim caps that fit over Afros approved for the 2021 Summer Olympics.
  • The Olympic umbrella organization rejected the application on the grounds that it did not correspond to the “natural” head.
  • Fortune 500 consultants explain why choosing to join other leaders is an educational moment.
  • Check out Insider’s business page for more stories.

Maritza McClendon, the first black woman to join a U.S. Olympic swim team and a 2004 Olympic silver medalist, vividly remembers the laughter of her white teammates in high school and college as she struggled to get her fat tucking curly hair into her swim cap.

She would laugh with them, but inside she had a terrible sinking feeling. It was one of many micro-aggressions she had to endure over the years.

To be black and a swimmer, she said, was difficult. And a new ruling by the international swimming federation FINA makes it even more difficult.

A company called Soul Cap recently tried to get its swim caps – which fit over afros, locs, extensions and thick hair – approved for the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics. FINA rejected the product, saying the caps did not correspond to the “natural shape of the head”. After a quick reaction, the FINA is reviewing the ban again.

In response to a request for comment, FINA referred to its latest press release on the subject, which said the association understood the “importance of inclusivity and representation” and would re-examine the decision at an unknown date. As of this writing, no formal announcement has been made.

“It’s just really disappointing,” said McClendon. “Olympia is the premier league of sport. What kind of message does it send? It excludes the diversity that sport so desperately needs.”

In addition to calling the ban “ridiculous” and “racist”, advisors working with Fortune 500 companies on diversity issues said FINA’s decision is a learning moment not only for Olympic leaders, but also for business leaders .

Corporate America has been embroiled in a racist reckoning since the May 2020 assassination of George Floyd, and many pundits have said that FINA’s swim cap ban highlights a problematic status quo. Not only must decision-makers embrace opportunities to be inclusive, these experts told Insiders, but they also need to question who these standards of clothing and behavior serve.

“When we talk about something like the afro hat that doesn’t match the ‘natural shape of the head’ – well, the natural shape of whose head exactly?” said Tiffany Jana, founder of TMI diversity, equity and inclusion consultancy, which works with Fortune 500 companies.

A lesson for all leaders

Maritza McClendon portrait in a pool

Maritza McClendon, 2004 Olympic silver medalist and the first black woman to form a US Olympic swim team, said the ban eliminated the diversity the sport “so badly needs.”

Cat harper


The backlash against FINA was quick.

Soul Cap has spoken out against the ruling, stating that it will discourage many younger athletes from underrepresented backgrounds from participating in the sport. And an online petition to FINA to lift the ban has collected more than 59,000 signatures.

That FINA rejected the opportunity to be more inclusive is a lesson for business leaders, said Jana, author of Subtle Acts of Exclusion.

Jana, who is non-binary, called the decision “completely ridiculous” and “a demonstration of white supremacy”. “What is being said is that the standard of white is normal, that it is the best, and that it is acceptable.”

Some authors have said that the FINA language is reminiscent of phrenology, a 19th-century pseudoscience that involved measuring bumps on the skull to predict mental characteristics. It has been used to argue that non-white people are inferior because of the shape of their heads.

Jana said the decision showed a lack of historical and emotional awareness and “general intelligence”. Kerryn Agyekum, DEI director at consulting firm The Raben Group, agreed. Both said it was no longer okay for executives to be unaware of how racism has affected their industry, field, or even their company or sport.

Stop monitoring black and other non-white corpses

There is a parallel between the ban on the afro swim cap and the ban on braids, locs, and other ways that black people groom their hair in many professional fields.

Both bans, DEI experts said, are knowingly or unknowingly racist.

“It’s just another expression of how different people, their needs, their expression, their well-being and their way of life are not considered, honored or privileged,” said Jana.

Often times the “standard” – or “professional” way of doing things – whether in sports or in the office – is how white, healthy, cisgender, straight people have existed, Agyekum said. The U.S. Army has been running a settlement on what hairstyles are and what isn’t, with new guidelines released this year that allow styles like cornrows, braids, and ponytails.

The CROWN Act, a law that prevents discrimination in the workplace based on hair texture or style, was passed in 11 states, including New York and California. However, there is no national law that prevents such discrimination.

But business leaders shouldn’t wait for the CROWN Act. You should question the status quo, Jana said, and stop monitoring blacks and other non-white bodies or making it difficult for them to exist in work spaces.

For example, managers should review the rules for presentation in the workplace, adjust health policies to include trans and non-binary people, and ensure that their offices are accessible to people with disabilities.

“Historically, blacks have lacked the ability to actually swim in pools that were only for whites. Now there is this generation of people who cannot swim because of this, “said Agyekum.” It is about exclusion.

Work culture and sports culture can change, said Jana, but only if managers are willing to do the work. Take, for example, how women rose in the world of work. Many companies now have breastfeeding rooms, offer free menstrual products such as sanitary towels, and offer paid parental leave.

“That only happened after we stopped and took a hard break,” said Jana.

Accept mistakes in order to progress

No leader or organization will always get everything right, especially when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion. But what executives do after making a mistake defines what they stand for, DEI consultants said.

“You can’t go from institutionalized slavery and racism to some kind of international, global utopia without stumbling, without learning,” said Jana. “What I’m interested in now is what FINA does next.”

For FINA to be an anti-racist organization, its committee should not only lift the ban, but also apologize and commit to a full review of its practices.

“Show me that you are doing the work,” said Jana.