Waves for All

At The Wave, an artificial surf spot just outside of Bristol, a group of women walk into the water, brightly coloured foam boards tucked under their arms. Here for a beginner lesson, they chat nervously, full of the usual worries we all have when we try something new. How is this going to go? Will it be scary? Will I be any good? But one thing they don’t have to be concerned about is feeling body conscious, and whether others will see their shape in a close-fitting wetsuit, because they are all covered in a loose fabric designed to disguise the contours of their body, without getting in their way of their surfing. Some of the group are also wearing hijabs; one of them will later tell me she’s never felt so free. Surfing doesn’t normally look like this. Wherever you go, the line-up is still disproportionately male and white, while the overriding surfer girl aesthetic is a petite, blonde woman in a bikini. But much effort is going into changing the status quo, and today I’m here for the launch of one such initiative: the Seasuit, full coverage swimwear, designed to help break down some of the barriers that put some women off surfing.

Shirin, who was born in Iran and lived there from the ages of 10-15, says there isn’t a big culture of girls swimming at the beach let alone surfing in the country. Partly because much of Iran is landlocked, also due to the cost of accessing the coastline, and because of beach babe stereotypes. “A woman by a beach is usually associated with that Californian beach babe image that is propagated everywhere,” she says. “And if you come from a conservative mindset that’s a red flag, but it isn’t necessarily the image it needs to be. Some people might be happy in a bikini, others might think it’s culturally inappropriate, while some might just not feel confident wearing one.” Sabinah Janally from Bristol, one of the women who I meet at The Wave, agrees. Finisterre offered an open invitation for women to come and test the Seasuit at the launch and Sabinah decided to come along. She tells me she’s often felt quite isolated when doing outdoor sports such as hiking, climbing and surfing.

“I’d search but not see myself represented in the community,” she says. At university she wanted to join the surf club but was intimidated by the “surf look”. “I didn’t look like that,” she says. The idea of the Seasuit is “magical” to her, and she feels it has huge potential to make people feel more comfortable and confident in the water. “You often stand out as a minority, but this enables you to feel like you fit in, that you’re welcome and encouraged,” she says. Arooj Shah, from Bradford, also tells me she didn’t see people like her, a young Muslim person of colour, represented in the sports she wanted to do, from horse riding to kayaking. She’d joined the scuba diving club at university and wore a cobbled together “Frankenstein”-style outfit of leggings and a tank top, overlaid with a basketball top and baggy shorts, in order to stay covered and respectful to her Muslim identity.

“The group was lovely, but I had to be willing to look ridiculous,” she says, conceding that not everyone would have the confidence to put themselves out there like that. She says she would have loved to have worn something like the Seasuit back then instead. “Kit not being available is a huge barrier in terms of accessibility to sports for Muslim women. It needs to be fit for purpose and to exist, so I know people who look like me are welcome in the sport,” she says, noting how game-changing it could be for Muslim women to see a poster of someone surfing in a Seasuit and hijab at fresher’s week. The hijab is removable so it can be used for other sports, and to broaden the appeal of the Seasuit. During testing the Finisterre team realised the Seasuit wasn’t just appealing to women who wanted to cover up for religious reasons, it was drawing in women who wanted to surf while covered because they were body conscious. And it wasn’t just surfers; swimmers and those who did other water sports such as kayaking were getting in touch, too.

As a plus size woman, Zara Wolf says she’s excited about the Seasuit’s potential to make surfing and even simply swimming at the beach easier to navigate. “People make negative comments all the time,” she says. “I’ve been called “disgusting” on the beach. And these are real barriers to accessing sport and the self-esteem benefits it can provide for plus-size women.” “I don’t like to be looked at and the Seasuit takes that away, giving you freedom from the male gaze. It’s an equaliser,” she says.

The Seasuit is available at Finisterre. For every Seasuit purchased, the Finisterre Foundation will donate one to help someone access the water.