Background/Purpose Black youth, both male and female, have a higher rate of drowning than any other racial/ethnic group in the United States ("Water-related injuries: Fact sheet", 2005). Two known studies of the minority swimming gap addressing hair as a constraint to swimming for minority youth produced conflicting results (Irwin et al., 2009, 2010).
Method To explore hair as a constraint to Black female participation in swimming, this study adopted a qualitative approach, using nine semi-structured interviews, which allowed exploration of the cultural backgrounds of its participants. Furthermore, this study introduced the expansion of the leisure constraints theory/model to include ecultural constraints' to holistically explore constraints as they relate to the leisure pursuits of racial minorities. The following research questions guided the study (a) How does hair influence swimming participation choices of Black females and (b) What is the self-reported degree of difficulty in the constraints negotiation process for Black females who do swim?
Analysis/Results The major finding is hair indeed acts as a constraint to swimming for participants of this study. Specifically, it is the time and money expended for Black hair care that is taken into consideration when it comes to choosing whether or not to participate in swimming. Nonetheless, participants offered ways of negotiating personal hair care constraints to be active participants in swimming.
Conclusions The rigor of hair maintenance for Black girls and women is a valid constraint to swimming. This constraint can be negotiated however; its degree of difficulty will vary depending on the individual and the hairstyle or texture.