A recent outing by Egypt's female beach volleyball team has highlighted just how much uniform regulations have changed in the sport.
Players Doaa Elghobashy and Nada Meawad walked into Rio's beach volleyball arena on Tuesday wearing long-sleeved shirts and full-length leggings, with Elghobashy electing to wear a hijab to cover her hair.
The team came up against the German side, who chose to wear a two-piece bikini, which was the mandatory female uniform of the sport until 2012.
“It doesn’t keep me away from the things I love to do, and beach volleyball is one of them.”
The Egyptian team's uniform choice brought into focus how much the female uniform has changed over the decades.
Lilliana Fernandez competing at the FIVB Moscow Grand Slam. (Wiki Commons) Source: WikiCommons
The history of the female beach volleyball uniform
Beach volleyball began as a on the island of Waikiki in Hawaii in the early 20th century.
Originally considered a social pastime, the relatively over the decades, with local competitions taking place in coastal cities around the US, South America, and Europe.
Beach volleyball has traditionally been played in beachwear, but the style of the beachwear has changed in accordance with the fashions of the time.
In the 1970s, a pro-beach volleyball tour was established and, 16 years later, beach volleyball was recognised by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the governing body of volleyball worldwide.
When the FIVB took over regulation of the sport in 1986, it required women to compete in bikinis with "a maximum side width of seven centimetres (2.76 inches)".
Players could also opt for a bodysuit in colder weather.
Beach volleyball was featured as a demonstration sport at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, and then as an official sport in 1996 in Atlanta.
At that time, FIVB required all players, men and women, to wear a swimsuit while competing.
Criticism of the uniform
The bikini uniform has been criticised by advocacy groups for "sexualising" the sport.
In 2012, the International League for Women's Rights staged a protest against gender discrimination in sport, highlighting beach volleyball uniforms as a form of sexual exploitation.
“They are using women’s bodies as sex,” Annie Sugier, a spokeswoman for the organisation, told .
“It is all about money. It makes women look like objects and it is a clear case of sexism.”
Some female players at the time said they felt comfortable with the bikini two-piece uniform, and indicated they preferred it.
“I’m OK with it. It’s the only sport where the women dominate. If it starts with the bikini, fine. I believe it shows the best side of the female body and I’m proud of how we look in it,” Australian gold medalist, Natalie Cook .
Holly Peak, an American Olympic bronze medalist also voiced her preference for the two-piece bikini, saying between a bikini and a one-piece, the choice was "not even close".
"When you dive, the sand goes down the top [of the one-piece] and collects in the bottom," she told .
Craig Carracher, President of Volleyball Australia, agreed with players Cook and Peak. He also believed the public has placed an unnecessarily high important on what players wear on the court.
"When the public stops concentrating on women's uniforms and starts to admire their athletic performance will be the real benchmark for when culturally we have advanced beyond sexism and gender inequality in sport," he told SBS.
The compulsory bikini also prevented players with cultural and religious objections to the uniform's minimal coverage from competing in the sport professionally.
Changes to the uniform
In 2012, FIVB broadened its rules on women's compulsory competition uniforms from two-piece bikinis to outfits with more coverage, including full-sleeved and full-legged options.
"Many of these countries have religious and cultural requirements, so the uniform needed to be more flexible," FIVB spokesman Richard Baker told .
The current guidelines permit "shorts of a maximum length of three centimetres (1.18 inches) above the knee, and sleeved or sleeveless tops."
For international FIVB tours and grand slams, the FIVB issues uniforms to players.
(FIVB Sports Regulations 2015) Source: FIVB
(FIVB Sports Regulations 2015) Source: FIVB
Since 2012, female players have been able to select from a range of styles, including the standard two-piece bikini as well as additional sleeved-tops and leggings in a range of lengths - giving women like Doaa Elghobashy and Nada Meawad the opportunity to compete on the world stage.
"The recent performances of Egypt in the women's volleyball event in Rio represent that inclusiveness and cultural diversity and should come as no surprise to anyone in world sport," said Carracher.
"Volleyball Australia has always aggressively supported the individual preferences in uniforming consistent with standards of presentation and appearance for world class sport performed by world class athletes and we certainly do so in the case of Egypt and Doaa Elghobashy."
The Egyptian women's volleyball team ended up losing to Germany, 2-0.
