Finally, there is no ‘wrong’ hair for swimming | Alice Dearing

Hair is part of black women's identity. Now all swimmers have the right to wear the hair we were born with

Just one month before I was due to compete in last year's Olympics, the biggest achievement of my life so far, I was swept up in an international cultural scandal - because of my hair. A swimming cap to accommodate thicker, longer hair, was banned by the International Swimming Federation (Fina) on the grounds that it did not follow the natural form of the head".

In the run-up to the competition, I had collaborated with Soul Cap and its black-owned, UK-based creators who wanted to provide a better solution for swimmers with hair that doesn't fit a one size fits all" model.