A judge’s ruling at an Alaska high school swim meet led to outrage after a swimmer was disqualified for the fit of her team-issued swimsuit.
The Anchorage School District says it won’t tolerate discrimination — including that based on body shape — after a high school swimmer was originally disqualified for wearing a team-issued swimsuit that exposed too much of her buttocks.
The school district said in a written statement that the decision to single out the 17-year-old girl for a uniform violation was “heavy-handed and unnecessary,” the Anchorage Daily News reported.
The girl was targeted based solely on how a standard school-issued uniform happened to fit the shape of her body, the district said.
The disqualification blocked the 17-year-old Dimond High School swimmer from a heat victory at a meet on Friday.
On Tuesday, the Alaska School Activities Association reversed the disqualification, KTUU-television reported. The ASAA said overturning the decision is allowable because the official didn’t notify the coach about a potential issue prior to the race.
Meanwhile, the school district said it will ask the group to decertify the official who disqualified the girl.
KTUU-television reports a competing coach, Lauren Langford of West High School, says the girl was the only swimmer disqualified even though her teammates wore similar suits.
The district said it acted after interviewing multiple people who witnessed the incident.
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The decision is here on asdk12.org
