Revolutionary haircut for swimmer (9)

I believe the answer is:
redmullet
'swimmer' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot tell whether it can be defined by this definition.
'revolutionary haircut' is the wordplay.
'revolutionary' becomes 'red' (red can informally mean communist).
'haircut' becomes 'mullet' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'red'+'mullet'='REDMULLET'
'for' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
I've seen this clue in the Irish Times (Crosaire) and The Irish Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution?
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