Johnson Paves the Way in Manitoba

This past weekend the Bison Sprint Meet was underway in the Main Tank at Pan Am Pool. Seals swimmer, Kahnay Johnson, became the first openly transgender swimmer in Manitoba to compete in the gender they identified as; male. 

“Being the first transgender youth to compete as my authentic self, I felt nervous but also very proud as it is something that I think should be available” Johnson said. He previously competed with the Seals for a number of seasons prior to the pandemic and returned to the club this fall, joining Pinnacle Fitness. 

Johnson's return was after several seasons of water polo, and has worked hard throughout the season on building his competitive swimming technique. Those efforts were on display Saturday afternoon as Kahnay competed in 3 events (50m Backstroke, 50m Breaststroke, & 50m Freestyle), posting career best times across the board. 

When asked about what he hopes this means for the future of the sport, Kahnay stated; “I hope my actions can make it more accepted and easily accessible for gender queer people to swim as their authentic selves. I hope it can bring more awareness to the needs of recognizing this. I would like to give other people the confidence to step forward to also be their authentic selves and know that the swimming community will support them.”