Chris Mosier claims that the new policy from swimming’s international federation, Fina, “is the largest ban on trans people’s participation in sport to date” (As elite sports think again about trans participation, our only demand is for fairness, 29 June). This is simply wrong. The Fina policy outlines a commitment to exploring additional open categories, alongside eligibility for all athletes according to biological sex rather than gender identity, “regardless of their legal gender, gender identity, or gender expression”.
This already happens. Many trans men and non-binary athletes including swimmer Iszac Henig at the NCAA Championships, and Quinn and Alana Smith at the Tokyo Olympics, remain in female categories since they would be uncompetitive in male or open categories. This highlights the problem with Mosier’s preferred category solution, which would asymmetrically benefit trans women, gifting them a 10%-30% advantage minimally affected by testosterone suppression, at the expense of all female athletes including trans men and non-binary athletes.
