So I recently joined the Y and have my daughter enrolled in swimming classes. Watching her swim today reminded me of how much I LOVED to swim (was on the swim team and played Water polo in high school). The thing is I have hair issues. Anyone who is black and who has spent an hour in a chair getting a fresh press knows why water is a no go lol. In high school my hair was braided so swimming was no issue but now my hair is way too long for braids and I can't press/flat irion my hair every day or I will fry it.

My goal post-op is to swim 3-4 days per week and then throw some yoga in the mix...

Where are all my other black swimmers? What do you ladies do?

I'm not much of a swimmer, but I was wondering if you've thought about a swimmers cap? Good luck!

Yeah I have They don't work. I actually discovered your actually suppose to wet your hair before even putting it on. Swimming caps are more for keeping hair out of your face while you swin.

I'm black and can definitely understand where you are coming from. I haven't had my hair pressed in years and I've been relaxing my hair for the past 10 yrs. My hair is almost bra strap length and would grow longer if I would stop cutting it off lol. I haven't went swimming in years, even though I know how to swim. I don't like the way the chlorine makes my hair feel and constantly having to wash it doesn't feel good either because my hair is thick and long. My husband mentioned a swimmers cap to me also but I told him that it doesn't keep your hair from getting wet and it mostly just keeps your hair from getting tangled. I run everyday and my hair gets so oily but I mostly keep my hair in a ponytail unless I'm going some where special. My hair doesn't sweat out as much as it would if I were natural, it just mostly gets oily straight :/

ETA: I went to diving school in 2002 and having that nasty new jersey Water in my hair all the time, I had to wash it everyday. I mostly just wore it in a low bun ponytail and I hated it! I like my hair straight and getting it wet all the time wasn't working. I didn't even bother straightening it since it was going to get wet the next day. I only go to the salon when I need my highlights retouched but my stylist is horrible when it comes to straightening my hair so I style it and relax the new growth every 2-3 months. Sorry for rambling but you know how us black women get about our hair lol we can go on for hours

Please forgive me for my ignorance as I am not black, but I do have a 12 year old daughter with ringlet curly hair that swims 5-6 days a week on a year round competitive swim team. She flat irons her hair daily and it does a great deal of damage. I talked with my hair stylist about this and she strongly suggested doing a Keratin treatment. It's around $300 and last six months. I think we are going to do it in the next few weeks. Just a thought and something to look into. Good luck!

I feel you When I was in high school I was on the swim team and played water polo but my hair was braided for nearly 4 years so it was never a problem. I considered getting a full head weave since I figured that might save my hair since my hair would be braided underneith. Hmmm did't really consider a perm. Have not had on in years. I wonder how a perm would work with swimming ever day. At least with a perm I could blow dry, wrap and go...that might actually work

A keratin treatment is good but it's so expensive and while it may last for 6 months, the new growth wont be straight and you will probably need a retouch way sooner than the 6 month mark. I've been relaxing my own hair for the past 9yrs and my hair is still thick and grows super long. IMO if you like to wear your hair straight 70+% of the time, then it's best to relax it, especially if you are getting it wet all the time. Pressing your hair straight takes a lot of heat. My mom used to press my hair when I was younger and it took hours and then we would go swimming the next day and my hair would just revert back to being tightly curled, it wasn't worth the hassle at all. Also the good thing about relaxers is that once you relax your hair, you only have to relax the new growth every 2-3 months or every 6 weeks if you want. My hair is healthy and most people think it's fake for some reason. I'm not trying to talk you into getting a relaxer because I know a lot of people who are going natural and love it but for those women who like to wear their hair straight and exercise or sweat a lot, it makes more sense to me to have a relaxer so that your hair will remain straight with little effort. Good Luck with whatever you decide Also there are some people who "texlax" their hair and this basically means that they put the relaxer in and leave it on for less time for example 10 mins, instead of 20 mins.

I have not had a perm in my hair in over 15 years and to be honest....I miss it. I hate pressing my hair. I go every two weeks...sit for 2 hours then freak out the rest of the week scared to get it wet. I hate that. I will really have to consider a perm and just really buckle down on co-washing after swimming, using the ion swimmers shampoo.

Here is what I was thinking...what do you think?

Wet hair before swimming and use a leave in conditioner like VO5.

Where swimming cap with conditioner

After swimming, rinse hair and co-wash again wtih VO5 then use the keratin as a leave in, wrap to dry.

Once a week wash with the ion shampoo and deep condition

This would be with a perm ofcourse...

I can understand your frustration with your hair. I decided to loc my hair because having it pressed was becoming a hassle with exercise. My cousin uses weaves in order to swim...good luck

Well today marks day three of swimming. So far so good. What i do is wet it before I get in the Water and soak it with conditioner. I then put on a swim cap and swim. When I get out I wash it again, condition it then put in a leave in condiationer. I then use the wall blow dryer they have there and dry it until it is partially dry. I then wrap it and tie it down. When I wake up in the morning it is fully dry. I then oil my scalp and flat Iron it like I normally do. So far so good

Now lets just hope that I'm not back here next mothing talking about how I'm bald lol

LOL I'm sure you will be fine

So I recently joined the Y and have my daughter enrolled in swimming classes. Watching her swim today reminded me of how much I LOVED to swim (was on the swim team and played Water polo in high school). The thing is I have hair issues. Anyone who is black and who has spent an hour in a chair getting a fresh press knows why water is a no go lol. In high school my hair was braided so swimming was no issue but now my hair is way too long for braids and I can't press/flat irion my hair every day or I will fry it.

My goal post-op is to swim 3-4 days per week and then throw some yoga in the mix...

Where are all my other black swimmers? What do you ladies do?

This is funny to me as a black woman who grew up on the water... I always just swim.. Never have to cover my hair. Never did anything special for protection. Chlorine has never been a problem for my hair either. I just resume my normal hair care after getting it wet in the pool. I flat Iron my hair also.

This is funny to me as a black woman who grew up on the Water... I always just swim.. Never have to cover my hair. Never did anything special for protection. Chlorine has never been a problem for my hair either. I just resume my normal hair care after getting it wet in the pool. I flat Iron my hair also.

Really? Do you have long hair? Do you keep it braided? You must have an amazing grade of hair that you can swim every day and not cause damage to your hair. I know washing my hair every day, let alone getting chlorine in it ever day would fry my hair...add blow drying and flat ironing it every day...girl i would be bald. What type of products do you use on your hair to keep it from drying out?

I went swimming once without doing the pre-wash and conditioner and my hair was hard and brittle right after. I would love to hear what you do. I need all the help I can get. Went swimming again today and did the whole pre-wash, condition thing again and so far so good but it is a lot of work. It take me close to an hour just to blow dry. My hair is EXTREAMLY thick.

I don't do any prep on my hair lol... I just swim. And my hair is not damaged. I have always just swam and then washed and blow dried my hair after... Or I leave it wavy and add a curling hair gel. I keep my hair natural and sometimes have added weave. Nothing special. And I don't really use a lot of product. Just olive oil and that's it. And a good shampoo and conditioner.

im on the swim team... and trust me i know caps slip and stuff i used to be infamous on my team for having the thing slip off so often, i dont wet my cap, some people swear by it but because my hair is very oily and i tend to have product in it, the Water makes the cap slip off

ok so heres some advice i got from my black friend... what she does is get a thin cap and put it on her hair, then she gets another thicker cap

(google search long hair swim cap)and she puts that one on top of it to keep her hair extra dry.

also you can use the buddy method to put your cap on, it makes it stay better for some reason. get a friend to hold open the cap, you lean forward and put your head in it, then your buddy streches it over your neck for you.

warning never ever put a cap on when you have clips or anything really except metal free hair ties in your hair

oh an trust me it will damage your hair by bleaching the color and making it lighter, also drying it out, just rinse really really welll, and always wear a cap