Another man uses his fame to throw women overboard.

Swim England has been accused of sacrificing the interests of young female divers to appease high-profile athletes such as Tom Daley.

On Monday the national governing body became the first to create an open category for competitors who were born male, including transgender women or non-binary participants, with the women’s category exclusively for “athletes with a birth sex of female”. In diving, however, the rule will not apply to all competitions. Self-identification by trans divers will be permitted in some Swim England-approved events below elite level.

Brilliant. “Most people with male advantage will be excluded from competing against people with female disadvantage…but we’re making an exception for some divers.”

World Aquatics (WA) decided in June to ring-fence the women’s category for females, ruling ineligible any athlete who has gone through male puberty. It plans to release details of its own open category in July on the cusp of the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. World Athletics has banned trans women from competing in the female category at international events and is considering an open category.

Daley said in June that he was “furious” with WA over the decision. “Anyone that’s told that they can’t compete or can’t do something they love just because of who they are, it’s not on,” he said. “It’s something I feel really strongly about: giving trans people the chance to share their side.”

It’s not “just because of who they are.” It’s because of what they are: males. If you don’t divide sports by sex then women will never win anything; sports are divided by sex so that women will be able to compete and to win. What’s “not on” is throwing that principle out because a few selfish men want to cheat by competing against women.

It just is the case that there are countless things we can’t do “just because of who [or what] we are.” There’s a long list of jobs we can’t do because who we are=someone who doesn’t have the right skills or professional training for the job. There are many things we can’t do because we lack the time, or money, or freedom, or health, or energy, or years of practice.