Redeem now - A teen swimmer on Anchorage's Dimond High School swim team won a race on Friday.
- She was then disqualified because she had a "suit wedgie" which the referee said exposed too much of her butt, the Washington Post reported.
- Lauren Langford, a local swim coach, said she believes that racism and sexism play a part in the incident because this swimmer is one of the few athletes who is not white.
- The teen's mom, Meagan Kowatch, told KTUU that the ref has previously targeted her other daughter over the way her bathing suit fit.
- Now, she wants Friday's decision overturned.
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On Friday, a high school athlete won a 100-meter freestyle race representing Anchorage's Dimond High School — but then was quickly disqualified.
The top-ranked high school athlete was reprimanded by a referee for having a uniform violation in the form of a "suit wedgie," the Washington Post reported. The teen was wearing a school-issued swimsuit — the same one all of her teammates were wearing.
Lauren Langford, a local swim coach, told the Washington Post that she believes racism and sexism play a part in the incident because this swimmer is one of the few athletes who is not white.
"All of these girls are all wearing suits that are cut the same way," Langford said. "And the only girl who gets disqualified is a mixed-race girl with rounder, curvier features."
Read more: 6 times women were 'dress coded' in real life
The school is now reviewing Friday's swim meet. At the time, the student's coach contested the referee's decision. That request was denied. The school expects the coach to appeal the referee's call.
This isn't the first time this student's body has been targeted, her mother says
The teen's mom, Meagan Kowatch, told KTUU that she also wants Friday's disqualification overturned. Kowatch told KTUU that this ref had also targeted her younger daughter over the fit of her swimsuit the previous year.
And it's not the first time the teen who was disqualified has been targeted over her body. In September of 2018, another parent took pictures of the girl's backside and sent it to other parents to demonstrate that her swimwear was "inappropriate," the Washington Post reported.
On Monday, the school district released a full timeline of events. They noted that at the time, the "assistant principal indicated to the parent who took the photographs that it was not permissible for him to take pictures of others' children and that he should stop immediately."
Langford told the Washington Post that the parent who took those pictures was out of line.
"We have a term for it — it's called a suit wedgie," she said. "And wedgies happen. It's uncomfortable. No one's going to walk around that way intentionally."
In a post published to Medium, Langford put it simply: "If you do not like the way that swimsuits fit on these girls' bodies then don't look; they are minors, children, and no one should be looking at them anyway."
The National Federation of State High School Associations, which presides over high school sports in Alaska, requires that girls' swimsuits "cover the buttocks and breast." According to the Anchorage's Dimond High School website, the district "has made deliberate efforts over the last year to ensure athletes' uniforms meet the regulations." This year, the team purchased new swimsuits for each member of the team, the district said.
"If the suit was a problem, they all should have been disqualified," Langford said. "But they weren't."
- Read more:
- A Georgia elementary school displayed posters of 'appropriate' and 'inappropriate' hairstyles for black students
- A high school canceled its spirit week after an unofficial 'thug day' was called out for having racist undertones
- A high school forbade girls from wearing pants to their graduation ceremony. One senior changed that.
- A federal court ruled that a charter school's dress code is unconstitutional and that girls can't be forced to wear skirts
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