A UK trans swimmer was forced to compete against men for the first time in years. Instead of sitting the matches out, she chose to follow the rule to the letter and show up topless in men’s swimwear.
According to the Reading Chronicle, Anne Isabella Coombes, 67, has been a member of the Reading Swimming Club for 30 years, and in 2023 she competed in the women’s category for the first time after transitioning. But in September of that same year, Swim England—the national governing body for sport—changed the regulations to exclude trans women from the women’s category. Trans and nonbinary swimmers must now compete in the open category, which replaced the men’s category.
Related
The exhibition is curated by Pietro Rigolo and runs until September 28th.
Right away, Coombes saw how poorly thought-out the new regulations were. Swim England hadn’t even bothered to specify swimwear, other than that it should be in “good moral taste.”
Culture, unfiltered
Our newsletter will bring you the pulse of queer culture, from the tastemakers to the groundbreakers.
“I asked them what costume I was supposed to wear, as there are rules around how much fabric can be on your body,” Coombes said.
“They confirmed that I need to wear a female swimming costume despite having to compete with the men, which ‘outs’ me as a woman who is transgender. I explained to the person on the phone that they are not allowed to do that, and he didn’t have an answer.”
Coombes sat out matches for years rather than be subjected to the humiliation of the new policy. But this year, she realized that the policy could prove even more humiliating for the regulators if she actually followed them.
Coombes decided to attend a match in men’s swimwear, exposing her breasts. She was told that by doing so, a referee might disqualify her.
“Deciding on whether exposing my breasts is in ‘good moral taste’ or whether I need to cover them up so that ‘those involved in competitive swimming are appropriately safeguarded’ is an entirely subjective decision of the referee,” Coombes said.
“In other words, I could turn up to the competition and run the risk of not being able to compete in whichever costume I intend to wear. No other swimmer has this concern. These regulations also mean that Swim England is treating me as a male by default.”
“I’m trying to show the world that this policy isn’t thought through, and it’s meant to hit trans people and nobody else,” she added.
Coombes was ultimately inspired to stand up for her rights following the recent anti-trans Supreme Court ruling in the UK. “Most trans people just want to get on with their lives and be treated as the gender they are,” she said.
“But unfortunately, given what the Supreme Court has done, we need to stand up and say ‘I’m trans, I exist, and you’re not going to silence me.’ Existence is resistance.”
Sign up for the INTO newsletter and get your twice-weekly dose of stories that shape the queer experience, culture, and lifestyle.
