The decision on Sunday by FINA, swimming’s world governing body, to bar those who have experienced male puberty from elite female competition, is good news for fairness in sport, and for women’s rights. It is also, though this may seem less obvious, good news for trans people.
The backdrop to FINA’s ruling, based on consultation with scientists and medical experts, is one of bitter controversy — a controversy dramatised by the sight of US trans woman swimmer Lia Thomas towering over the biologically female competitors she beat in women’s college events.
