Veiga Grétarsdóttir is a transgender woman. Growing up as Veigar, with brothers, gender roles were prescribed at a young age by her family and community. According to Grétarsdóttir, she overcompensated in her youth. She drank, smoked, got tattoos, went hunting, and drove trucks in a performative effort to adjust to a “male” gender role. The wearing of women’s clothes began around the age of 10. One day, her parents discovered the clothing.

“…Grétarsdóttir’s attempt to…[circumnavigate] the 2000 kilometers of Iceland’s coastline…”

They were so unaware of Grétarsdóttir’s desire to dress as a woman that they assumed it was the clothing of one of her many female conquests. Grétarsdóttir took to hiding the clothes inside stereo speakers and even behind the car’s radio. Eventually, Grétarsdóttir married a woman. When Grétarsdóttir admitted to her wife that she felt like a woman, her wife declared the marriage unsustainable. Grétarsdóttir then transitioned to Veiga.

The sea has its currents, its flows. Our life journeys have their bottlenecks, their blockages, but also their currents, their flows. Veiga Grétarsdóttir faced some rough currents in her life journey. Her transition made her stronger, more at ease with herself, ready to overcome nature’s harshest challenges. She emerged not just as a transgender role model for those who have suffered through rejection and ostracism in their transition but also as an athlete worthy of our admiration. Her story should inspire all of us regardless of race, nationality, religion, or even gender. Against the Current shows that the possibilities are unlimited.