The Bolles Swimming & Diving team has once again made it to the grand finale of their season, and the athletes were excited as always to show their team spirit for the state championship. Many of the members of both the boys’ and girls’ teams celebrated the season by either shaving or braiding their hair.   

In the past, the boys swimmers have been known to shave their head on the weekend leading up to the state championships. However, in more recent years, handfuls of male athletes wanting to shave their heads have taken a more eye-catching way of prepping for the hair removal by bleaching and shaving radical patterns into their hair. These patterns include, but are not limited to racing stripes and tic-tac-toe boards, as well as random sparse sprouts of hair. 

These hairstyles are worn for roughly a week leading up to the weekend before states, when many athletes completely shave their heads. Head shaving is a popular practice among many high school sports teams, both in and out of Bolles, as many male athletes shave their heads as a way to show team spirit. 

As for the girls team, many of the athletes braided orange and blue beads or hair wraps into one another’s hair as a fun way to show off Bolles spirit. These girls wore their braids and hair wraps for the week leading up to states.

While the head shaving and hair braiding is not officially associated with the Bolles Swim & Dive team (or its coaches), there were still athletes who wished to participate in these hair styles as a way to celebrate the state championships. 

Photo Credit: Ellie Stewart