Harris, GraemeAlton, LindseyHamlin, MichaelMacdonald, AshleighOlsen, Peter2025-03-102024-12-3020252024-08-232703-240Xhttps://hdl.handle.net/10182/18235The Soul swimming cap designed specifically for long hair, afro, and dreadlock hair was banned by the swimming body FINA at the Tokyo Olympics. The ban was due to the cap not following the natural form of the head and the possibility the Soul cap could increase swimming performance. The ban attracted considerable media attention and backlash online centering around inclusivity, equity, and the low participation of minority groups in swimming. Anecdotally, swimmers also indicated the larger Soul cap would potentially decrease swimming performance, and previous research had found wrinkled swim caps produced higher drag. There is no research on the Soul cap, therefore the purpose of this study was to investigate the drag of Soul swimming caps compared to a standard Speedo competition cap. A wind tunnel, set at a speed equivalent to 1.76 m/s in the water, was used to measure the drag on a model head with a long wig (representing a long-haired swimmer) in different cap conditions i.e., Soul caps designed for long hair (small [S-Soul], large [L-Soul], extra-large [XL-Soul]) and a standard Speedo swim cap. The Speedo swim cap produced significantly less (p’s < 0.0001) drag compared to all Soul caps (141.54 ± 2.92 g [Speedo] vs. 150.53 ± 4.83 g [S-Soul], 164.54 ± 3.24 g [L-Soul], and 172.87 ± 3.70 [XL-Soul]). Differences in drag were progressively larger with an increase in the size of the Soul swimming caps (8.89 g to 31.33 g, p’s < 0.0001). It is likely the differences in cap conditions were due to smoothness of the swim caps, with less wrinkling occurring in the Speedo cap and increased wrinkling in the larger Soul caps. Our findings indicate it is unlikely that a Soul swimming cap would confer a performance advantage relative to a standard Speedo swimming cap.pp.21-25© Sport and Exercise Science New Zealanddragequityswim capsJournal Article10.36905/jses.2024.02.022703-240XANZSRC::420799 Sports science and exercise not elsewhere classifiedANZSRC::4207 Sports science and exercise