SWIM SISTERS
Full body suits are allowing a new demographic of women to take to the open water, discovers Becky Horsbrugh
Becky Horsbrugh
SWIM SISTERS
Earlier this year a group of women took part in an open water swimming event at Sydney’s Maroubra beach. Nothing unusual in that you may think. Except this group of women were wearing full body suits otherwise known as modesty suits or ‘burkinis’ and it is believed to be the first time women wearing such outfits have taken part in an ocean race.
The women are part of a group called Swim Sisters, which was set up by Australian Yusra Metwally in 2016, in response to the ‘burkini’ ban in the South of France. One of the most iconic images of last summer was that of French policemen on a beach, telling a Muslim woman to take off her long sleeved clothing. The controversial law was soon overturned by France’s highest appeal court. However the ban lasted long enough to spark debate around the world over the rights women have to wear what they want in and out of the water – irrespective of their religion.