Not only do privilege and oppression make impossible the existence of truly level playing fields, but the belief that one might never triumph over another athlete is far from unique or specific to competing against trans women. Most people in the swim community joke that racing against Katie Ledecky is a race for second place. She has largely been seen as unbeatable—and she has dozens of national and international titles to support her invincibility. But, accusing trans women of being unbeatable just because they’re trans is not founded in evidence or fact, and is just transphobic.
