Swimming is to establish an “open category” to allow transgender athletes to compete as part of a new policy that would effectively ban them from women’s races.
“I do not want any athlete to be told they cannot compete at the highest level,” Husain al-Musallam, president of governing body FINA, told an extraordinary congress of his organization.
“I understand why transgender athletes want to compete in the gender of their choice ... but we should not favor one athlete over another,” he said. “I will set up a working group that will establish an open category at some of our biggest events.”
Photo: AP
He was speaking as FINA unveiled a policy on inclusivity that was then approved by the members.
The policy received a cautious welcome from US swimmer Alex Walsh after she won the women’s 200m medley at the world championships later on Sunday evening.
“I’m happy that FINA are ... re-evaluating the rules,” she said. “I am not really sure what the answer is to keep things fair, but obviously I hope that everyone is able to compete and as long as they are finding a way to do that then I am happy.”
Last year, the International Olympic Committee announced guidelines, but asked federations to produce their own sport-specific rule.
FINA set up three expert committees — medical, legal and athletic — to look at the issue. The medical committee found that men who transitioned to woman retained advantages.
“Some of the advantages males acquire in puberty are structural and are not lost with hormone suppression,” said Sandra Hunter of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“These include larger lungs and hearts, longer bones, bigger feet and hands,” she said.
The legal experts concluded that the policy of excluding most transgender swimmers would be legal.
They were “necessary and proportionate to achieve a legitimate objective,” London-based barrister James Drake said.
For the swimmers, Cate Campbell, an Australian four-time Olympic gold medalist, said: “My role is to stand here today and tell trans people we want you to be part of the broader swimming community ... but also to stand here and say ... ‘listen to the science.’”
In the US, swimming has moved to the center of the debate over transgender women competing against natal women, as Lia Thomas has become the face of the issue.
Thomas, a freestyle specialist, competed for the University of Pennsylvania men’s team from 2017 to 2019.
After transitioning and undergoing required hormone therapy, she raced on the women’s team this season.
Thomas became the first known transgender athlete to win an elite US collegiate title when she edged Olympic medley silver medalist Emma Weyant in the 500m freestyle in Atlanta in March.
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