Change for Equality: Elham Alsadaat Asghari is the first woman to break a record in open water in Iran. In June she broke the record for the crawl in the Caspian Sea, but when she went to register her important achievement, she was confronted with an unbelievable problem. The officials at the Ministry of Sports told her that they cannot register her record because there is no officially registered description at the Ministry with respect to requirements for “women’s swimming suites for open water”. She is being told this, despite the fact that during her swim in the Caspian Sea she wore complete Islamic clothing [as defined by authorities] and official judges were present to observe her during the entire time of her swim.

Officials at the Ministry of Sports told her that no matter how Islamic her clothes during her swim, the registration of her record, as far they are considered, would be un-Islamic and contrary to Sharia. Elham Alsaadat Asghari explained in interviews that: “my swim clothes were as heavy as an astronaut’s uniform, but I had no other choice. If they ask Mr. Rezazadeh [weightlifting champion] to wear an outfit of the same type of the same weight before lifting weights, he would bid farewell to weightlifting forever.”

The 32 year old swimming champion and record breaker stressed that swimming an 18 kilometer distance under these circumstances was not easy, and that she cannot just forget that she had broken a record. She went on to say that: “when I swim for hours in the ocean and refuse to succumb to the waves, it is difficult for me to succumb to the personal decisions and beliefs of some officials, for this reason I will continue to press for my legal rights. My record was achieved fairly and legally and it has to be registered!”