At Sport Wales, we’re really keen to invite conversations and explore new partnerships with people and organisations that share our ambitions for sport in Wales.
So, we’re thrilled to have formed a brand new partnership with the Black Swimming Association (BSA) to support efforts to get more people with African, Caribbean and Asian heritage taking part in swimming and other aquatic activities.
The new collaboration represents a significant commitment to making swimming more ethnically diverse in Wales, and we look forward to seeing how the BSA can complement the work already being done by Swim Wales and other organisations within our existing wider partner network.
You can read more about the new partnership here.
One of the BSA’s co-founders is Alice Dearing, who became the first black female swimmer to represent Great Britain at an Olympic Games when she competed in the women’s 10km in Tokyo. We asked Alice about her own sporting journey and the barriers black swimmers face...
Congratulations on your achievements in Tokyo. What are your thoughts on being a trailblazer for black female swimmers?
Thank you! Honestly, it has been really cool and exciting for me, whilst also being incredibly daunting. I am hoping people across all ages and backgrounds can be inspired by me and go and learn to swim, or go swim more regularly! Swimming is a fantastic sport, which has given me so much good in my life and I hate to think there are people missing out on those opportunities because they do not know how to swim or do not have frequent access to safe water. However, it has taken a lot of courage to stand up and use my voice but I have been overwhelmed with how much support and kindness I have encountered, from those nearest to me and from complete strangers.
What research is the BSA carrying out into the barriers preventing more black people from swimming?
The two pieces of research the BSA is conducting are ground-breaking and very exciting. The first one is seeking to find the reasons why black people do not swim from a social and behavioural perspective. We ourselves have ideas about what these issues are, such as access to pools, financial costs, harmful stereotypes and potential aquaphobia. However, we need conclusive research to best distribute our resources and to understand the key areas of concern. The second piece is surrounding body composition and the myth of black people’s inability to float because of high bone density. Whilst this theory is based in pseudoscience it is widely believed and extremely harmful as it has kept black people away from learning to swim for decades. It is very exciting that this will most likely be disproven and we can begin to work on encouraging more black people to get in the water.
Can you tell us about the need for more appropriate swim caps to be available and permitted for elite use? It sounds like a simple solution to a real participation barrier.
It has always been an interesting concept that swimming hats come in one size. When I first started swimming there was no differentiation in sizes - when brands produce swimming costumes/trunks with a “one size fits all” mentality it’s not inclusive for a large proportion of swimmers. This is the same for swim hats. So it’s very exciting to see big brands taking on this problem and making it non-existent, not only for black women and men, but for anyone who has longer, thicker hair… or maybe for those who would just like a bigger cap!
