An Alaska Teen Was Disqualified From Winning Her Swim Meet — Because She Had A Wedgie

By Lauren Rearick


On Friday, September 6, a student-athlete with Dimond High School in Anchorage, Alaska, had every reason to celebrate: She secured a first-place finish throughout a state championship swim meet. Nevertheless the win was short-lived, as a referee right after disqualified her, alleging that her swimwear showed also much skin.


According to the Anchorage Day-to-day News, the meet referee made their decision based on the way the student’s swimsuit had risen in the back. Anchorage Day-to-day News noted that swimsuits commonly bunch into a “swimmer’s wedgie” immediately following the conclusion of a swim, given that the effort required to race in a swim meet requires considerable body movement. The student’s coach, Lauren Langford, had appealed the disqualification at the meet, however the appeal was denied, KTVA reported.


In a subsequent Medium post, Langford explained that the full team was wearing the same school-approved swimsuit, so people were confused by the disqualification. Furthermore, the team had worn the same swimsuit to three prior meets, and had gotten no violations at each event, CBS News reported.


Langford’s Medium post also alleged there was more to the disqualification. She mentioned that the student was “targeted for the way the suit fit her curvier, fuller-figured body,” and also her race and skin tone. “These young swimmers aren’t being punished for wearing their suits in scandalous or provocative ways, however rather, because their ample hips, full chests, and dark complexions look different than their willowy, thin, and mostly pallid teammates.”


KTVA announced that because of Langford’s post, the Anchorage School District began its own investigation into the ruling, and on Tuesday evening, it called the referee's decision “heavy-handed and unnecessary.”


“The Anchorage School District has concluded that our swimmer was targeted based solely on how a regular, school-issued uniform happened to fit the shape of her body,” the district wrote.


The district had interviewed countless people for its investigation and presented its results to the Alaska School Activities Association. The association then reversed the disqualification, telling Anchorage Day-to-day News that the referee failed to notify the coach of the dress code violation before disqualifying the student. According to the Anchorage Day-to-day News, the school district has asked the association to take away the referee's certificate to ref also it wants a “less-ambiguous” swimsuit dress code instituted.


This is hardly the opening time that students have faced discriminatory dress code violations. In May, Houston’s James Madison High School came under fire for a dress code that some accused of targeting black families, and in January, a student at Parkview Arts/Science Magnet High School in Little Rock began #PasstheSkirt, a nationwide protest that challenged dress codes which specify lengths for items like skirts and dresses.


MTV News has reached out to Anchorage School District for comment.