Soul Cap approved for top swimming meets with aim of increasing diversity

The Soul Cap has gotten the green light from swimming's top governing body, which figures to be a huge step toward bringing more diversity to a largely white sport.

You'll have to look beyond the Olympics and world championships to spot its biggest impact.

The oversized cap, which is designed especially for Black swimmers with voluminous natural hair, already is making the pool deck feel more welcoming at the grassroots level.

The hope is that will lead to more swimmers of colour reaching the sport's highest echelons in the generations to come.

Seren Jones, co-founder of the British-based Black Swimming Association, is seeing signs of progress in her role as an instructor.

The Soul Cap initially was banned from competition by FINA, now known as World Aquatics, leading to harsh criticism during the Tokyo Olympics from supporters of more inclusive policies.

Most notably, open water competitor Alice Dearing — the first Black female swimmer to make the British team — thought FINA was out of touch for barring the Soul Cap on the grounds that it didn't follow "the natural form of the head."

Dearing had wanted to try the larger cap to cover her Afro.

Reversing course last September, the governing body added the Soul Cap to the list of approved equipment, with executive director Brent Nowicki saying "diversity and inclusivity is at the heart of FINA's work."

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The world championships in Fukuoka, Japan, are the first major international meet since that ruling, but smaller caps that fit more snugly to the head remain the norm at the highest echelons of the sport. Top swimmers are focused on doing whatever they can to reduce drag, which leads to faster times.

Jones