As a sport, swimming is something often taken for granted. Its relatively common-place status – the fact, for example, that public pools are within relatively easy reach of most people living in the UK – encourages a general mindset that is an activity that’s open and accessible to all. On investigating the matter closer, however, a somewhat different story emerges. In fact, if you were to carry out a census of attendees to British swimming facilities, you’d find that the demographic pie chart of swimmers fails to represent the general population. Black communities, in particular, are woefully underrepresented in the sport. According to figures published by Sport England, it is estimated that an astounding 95% of Black adults – and 80% of Black children – are unable to swim.
After discovering ‘Fear of the Water’ – a powerful short film treating the subject matter by director and photographer Tayler Prince-Fraser released earlier this year – Nike Swim were driven to support the growth of [Tayler’s] vision into a wider campaign, ‘Deep is the Water’,” Isabella Di Giuseppe, Nike Swim’s Marketing Manager, says. “I remember hearing the expression ‘Deep is the Water’ from a family member,” Tayler says, discussing the campaign and exhibition’s evocative title. “I can’t remember who, or where we were, but I distinctly remember that feelings of apprehension and fear were palpable… it was a feeling that was reflective of the wider families’ attitude towards water – it was something to be wary of, and not to be fooled with. It was almost as if the water had become a being in itself; one that was wildly unpredictable.”
Of course, the reasons behind the disenfranchisement experienced by the UK’s Black communities are, of course, rhizomatic in nature. While the financial barriers posed by expensive private swimming lessons is one of the most regularly cited, it’s far from “an issue exclusive to the Black community, but rather an issue faced by lower-income families across the country,” Tayler points out. A more salient point that the campaign sought to address “was the lack of Black swimmers at the forefront of the sport,” he continues. “People are inspired by individuals that look like them, sound like them and live like them. This project was about engaging a disenfranchised community with swimming, and in order to do so, we needed to ensure that those same individuals could look at the boys in the campaign and think ‘that could be me’.”
“Putting young Black men at the forefront” was, Isabella affirms, therefore paramount. “Our first point of call was to cast a group of young men who looked similar to the communities we are trying to engage with,” Tayler echoes, noting the absence of young Black men from traditional swim campaigns. Shot on an English beach at sunrise, the image series captures young Black men experiencing the liberating capacities of open water swimming – a feeling that the campaign’s subjects experienced firsthand. “Standing on a chalk boulder at 5am watching the sunrise was very memorable,” Tisloh Danboyi, one of the campaign’s four stars, says – it was an experience that opened his eyes to “the joy of water”.
Eventually ‘Deep is the Water’ will be presented as a two-day public exhibition at The Black and White Store in Soho, a context which “offers not only a platform for further conversation, but a physical space for a wider audience to connect to the team’s work in real-time,” Isabella says. Alongside the images themselves, the space will also host a panel discussion involving key Black leaders in the swim community – including Nat and Peigh of swim collective Swim Dem Crew and Omie Dale of SWIM UNITY – to share their experiences and discuss the themes broached in the exhibited images.
“One thing I don’t want people to take away from the campaign is that this is a Black swimming campaign when it is simply not,” Tayler says regarding how he hopes audiences respond to the audience and campaign. Rather, ”it is a swimming campaign with a cast that provides a sense of familiarity to a community.” “Visibility holds immense potential and significance to be a catalyst for wider change within sport,” Isabella echoes. “We hope this is just the next chapter in many more stories of water, cherished and shared from athlete to athlete.”
Deep is the Water at The Black and White Store, 59 Greek Street on 7th & 8th October 2022. Click here to discover more.
Credits
Photography and creative direction Tayler Prince-Fraser
Production Alex Ayodele-Otele
Styling Shaniqua Christian
Talent Osman Jalloh, Tisloh Danboyi, Blu Edmunds, Jordan Aki-Sawyerr
Images courtesy of Nike Swim