The pool has always been the place where star teen swimmer Leah Hayes could really be herself! Illinois 15-year-old, Leah Hayes, was diagnosed with alopecia when she was just 6 years old. It is an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss. As Leah adjusted to life without hair, she concealed her condition at school with wigs and hats. But she never hid her alopecia around her supportive swim family at Aurora’s Fox Valley Riptides team.