Ilayda, a 17-year old Turkish schoolgirl, lives with her very well integrated family in a foreign country. Since the death of her father, she herself has focused heavily on her religion and is wearing a headscarf again. As a result she is becoming increasingly isolated from her class at school. She is a keen swimmer and secretly pursues her passion at night-time in the school's swimming pool. When her sports teacher, Martha, becomes aware of this, she tries to bring Ilayda back into the class community through the school's swimming team. The problem is that she would have to take off her headscarf and burka and swim in an ordinary swimming costume for the competition ...