On April 23, 2019, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) released new regulations for the 2019-2020 high school swimming seasons. They created a lot of new rules, but the one that got the most attention was the issue of swimsuits.
Rule 3‐3, which talks all about the uniforms, states that,“It is recommended all swimmers and divers on the team wear suits of identical coloring and pattern. Suits shall be of one piece. A competitor shall not be permitted to participate wearing a suit that is not of decent appearance. Males shall wear suits which cover the buttocks and shall not extend above the waist or below the top of the kneecap. Females shall wear suits which cover the buttocks and breasts and shall not extend beyond the shoulders or below the top of the kneecap, nor cover the neck.” If an official determines that your suit does not meet these new regulations, you are disqualified from your race and must change suits.
The NFHS believed they were doing the right thing by defining the parameters of the problem that has been brought to them by adults who were uncomfortable being on deck with young men and women who were not “appropriately covered.” In reality, they were not doing the right thing. This new rule body shamed young athletes and made them feel sexually harassed.
The seniors of Dunlap High School had to keep this new rule in mind when picking the suit for this years team. They had to specifically make sure that the suit had medium-full buttock coverage and when they were trying them on their coach made sure that they would be okay for competition. Because of this new rule, the girls had to choose a suit that they don’t like as it stretches out too much while swimming. The good news is, so far, no girls on this team have been disqualified.
However, Breckynn Willis, a member of the swim team at Dimond High School in Anchorage, Alaska, was disqualified in a race because of her swimsuit. She swam in and won a heat during the meet, but a race official deemed that her swimsuit had shifted into a position that showed too much of her backside. The official said Breckynn's team-issued swimsuit didn't fit her properly and thus violated a rule, according to a statement from the Anchorage School District. But Tuesday, the Alaska School Activities Association announced it had reversed the disqualification, saying in a statement that it was "heavy-handed and unnecessary" and that "our swimmer was targeted based solely on how a standard, school-issued uniform happened to fit the shape of her body."
Every sport has rules. That’s how they keep the sport regulated. But this new rule is crazy and needs to be changed. It makes girls feel insecure about our bodies. It's already a lot of insecurity being on deck in a swimsuit, but now we also have to feel insecure that the suit might not fit us right and that we will be disqualified for it. Although I am a senior and probably won't see this, I hope this rule gets removed for the years to come.
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