World swimming bans transgender athletes from women’s events

BUDAPEST, Hungary –

The World Swimming’s governing body effectively banned transgender swimmers from competing in women’s events on Sunday.

FINA members voted 71.5 percent in favor of the new “gender inclusive policy” at the organization’s extraordinary congress. This allows only swimmers who have transitioned prior to age 12 to compete for women’s events.

“This does not mean that people should be encouraged to transition before the age of 12. It’s not that people should be encouraged to transition by the age of 12.

“They aren’t saying that everyone should transition by the age of 11, that’s absurd. In most countries, you can’t transition before that age and I don’t think you would be encouraged to. They are basically saying that people who have successfully transitioned cannot compete without an advantage.

FINA’s 24-page policy now includes proposals for a new category of “open competition”. FINA saidIt was establishing “a new working group that will spend six months looking at the best ways to create this new category.”

Pearce said to the AP the open competition would likely lead to more events. However, those details still need a lot of work.

“No one knows how this will work. We need to include a lot more people, including transgender athlete, to figure out how it would work. There are no details on how it would work. Pearce said that the open category will begin to be discussed tomorrow. said.

After hearing presentations by three specialist groups, an athlete group as well as a science and medicine and legal and human rights group, the members voted. The policy was formed following recommendations from the International Olympic Committee in November.

The IOC recommended that we shift the focus from individual testosterone levels to evidence of a performance advantage.

FINA saidIt acknowledges that some people and groups may not be comfortable with the use medical and scientific terminology related sex and sex linked traits. However, some sensitive terminology is necessary to be specific about sex characteristics that justifies separate competition categories.

Lia Thomas, a transgender woman, won the NCAA swimming championship in March. She won the 500-yard freestyle.

Other sports are also undergoing a review of their rules.

On Thursday, the cycling governing body revised its eligibility rules for transgender cyclists. These stricter limits will mean that riders will have to wait longer to be eligible to compete.

International Cycling Union (UCI), increased the transition period for low testosterone to two years and decreased the maximum acceptable level of testosterone.

The UCI shortened the transition period to 12 months. saidRecent scientific studies show that athletes who make the transition from males to females take at least two year to experience the long-awaited changes in muscle mass and strength/power.