Alice Dearing, a 22-year-old student at Loughborough University, is one of Great Britain’s top female marathon swimmers and one of the BSA Co-founders. She’s also currently the only black swimmer on Team GB and is only the second to represent them in the water.

“It sounds ludicrous but it can be really damaging to your self-image and confidence as chlorine wrecks hair. But it’s even harder for girls with thicker hair, which the majority of black girls have.”

The importance of hair to black women is reflected in their spending on hair products. According to a report in the Huffington Post, in 2017 the UK black hair industry was worth an estimated £88 million with black women on average spending three times more than white women on hair care.

Even though there are only a small number of black and mixed race swimmers competing in the sport in the UK, Alice hopes she can make a difference.

“I’m not a high profile swimmer but I hope the little bits of coverage I get through the media help encourage other people of colour who wouldn’t normally take part in swimming to go get lessons, or join a club or even just splash around with friends.”

A Swim England spokesperson said: “Swim England is working to understand the challenges and barriers to swimming and other aquatic activity through the project Barriers to Swimming.”

It says the project aims to understand the barriers that communities have in making swimming and other aquatic activities a regular habit.

To read more head to: https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-49247624