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The world’s leading governing body for swimming, FINA, announced on Sunday that it had voted to restrict competition for transgender athletes in elite women’s events.
The policy, which will take effect on Monday, requires transgender swimmers to complete their transition at age 12 to compete in women’s competitions and keep their testosterone circulating below levels of 2.5 nanomoles per liter. It effectively bans most transgender women from major swimming events, including the Olympics; the International Olympic Committee defers the federation of each sport to determine the eligibility of athletes.
FINA is working to establish an “open” category for swimmers whose gender identity differs from their gender.
The ruling was approved with 71 percent of the votes of members of the 152 eligible national federations at a congress held during the World Championships in Budapest.
“FINA’s approach to developing this policy has been comprehensive, science-based and inclusive,” Brent Nowicki, FINA’s executive director, told the BBC. “And what’s important, FINA’s focus was on competitive equity.”
The regulations come three months after Lia Thomas, of the University of Pennsylvania, became the first openly transgender woman to win an NCAA Division I swimming title, finishing first in the 500-yard freestyle. Its rise intensified the debate over the place of transgender swimmers in sport. Thomas recently said he hopes to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Hundreds of swimmers signed a letter in support of Thomas and all transgender and non-binary swimmers. But some of Thomas ‘teammates and his parents wrote anonymously that, while supporting Thomas’ transition, they felt that competing with other women was unfair.
FINA plans to use the next six months to create the open competition category.
“FINA will always welcome all athletes,” said FINA President Husain Al-Musallam. “Creating an open category will mean that everyone has the opportunity to compete at an elite level. This had not been done before, so FINA will have to lead the way. I want all athletes to feel included so they can develop ideas during this process. “
The sentence is a blow to transgender athletes and their fans, including former Harvard swimmer Schuyler Bailar, the first transgender man to compete as a male in an NCAA Division I sport. He said in a text message that he was “devastated” by the ad.
“This decision requires trans girls to make the transition before the age of 12, but nearly 100 bills have been seen in the United States banning trans children from playing youth sports and criminalizing transitional resources for boys. which makes it impossible for them to play sports in any way, “added Bailar, who is a friend and adviser to Thomas. “FINA’s decision does not preserve the integrity of women’s sports; it enforces harmful police forces on women’s bodies and the continued degradation and alteration of trans people who already suffer mass discrimination in this world.”
Athlete Ally, an LGBTQ advocacy group that wrote a letter of support to Thomas in February, also disagreed with the policy.
“FINA’s new eligibility criteria for transgender athletes and athletes with intersex variations are discriminatory, harmful, unscientific and do not agree with the 2021 IOC principles,” his tweet said. “If we really want to protect women’s sports, we need to include all women.”
Sharron Davies, a former British swimmer, tweeted her support for the FINA decision.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of my sport … to do science, ask athletes / coaches and stand up for fair sports for women,” she wrote. “Swimming will always welcome everyone, no matter how you identify, but equity is the cornerstone of the sport.”
Swimming joins other sports that have recently created stricter restrictions for transgender athletes. On Thursday, the governing body of cycling, the International Cycling Union, extended from one to two years the time that riders in gender transition have to wait before competing.