Muslim Woman Banned from French Swimming Pool

(Paris, France) A French Muslim woman named Carole has been banned from using a public swimming pool in suburban Paris while wearing a "burqini," the three-piece Islamic swimsuit (pictured) consisting of trousers, tunic and headscarf.

Carole said that she initially was granted permission to swim and later denied.

Officials in the Paris suburb of Emerainville said they let the woman swim in the pool in July wearing the "burqini," designed for Muslim women who want to swim without revealing their bodies.

But when she returned in August they decided to apply hygiene rules and told her she could not swim if she insisted on wearing the garment, which resembles a wetsuit with built-in hood.

Pool staff "reminded her of the rules that apply in all (public) swimming pools which forbid swimming while clothed," said Daniel Guillaume, an official with the pool management.

Le Parisien newspaper said the woman, identified by her first name Carole, was a French convert to Islam and that she was determined to go to the courts to challenge the decision.

"Quite simply, this is segregation," the paper quoted her as saying. "I will fight to try to change things. And if I see that the battle is lost, I cannot rule out leaving France."

Officials contend that swimming with the burqini is comparable to swimming in street clothes which have been worn all day collecting food spills, sweat, waste and who knows what.

"These clothes are used in public, so they can contain molecules, viruses, et cetera, which will go in the water and could be transmitted to other bathers," Guillaume said in a telephone interview.

Carole complained to the police but was rebuffed. Consequently, she said that she would team with anti-discrimination groups to protest. In the end, though, Carole may just have to leave the country because she doesn't meet French hygiene standards.

Heh, there's some irony here.