Hiram Moreno
The era of “equality” between transgender swimmers and biologically female swimmers seems to have come to an end after the International Swimming Federation (or simply FINA) drastically tightened the rules for the former to compete in elite women’s events.
FINA’s new rules began to be enforced last Monday, and the new “gender inclusion policy” only allows swimmers who transitioned before the age of 12 to participate. The organization also proposed to have an “open competition category”.
Considering that the World Professional Association for Transgender Health has 14 years as the minimum recommended age for hormone treatment and 15-17 years for gender-affirming surgery, FINA virtually eliminated any possibility of transgender women competing at the highest level.
James Pierce, spokesman for the president of FINA, had some statements regarding this decision.
This is not to say that we encourage people to transition at age 12. That’s what scientists say: that, if you transition after you start puberty, you have an advantage, which is unfair. They didn’t say that everyone should transition at age 11, that’s ridiculous. You cannot transition at that age in many countries, and we hope you are not encouraged to do so. Basically, what they are saying is that it is not possible for people who transitioned to compete without having an advantage.
James Pierce
Regarding the “open competition category”, FINA mentioned that they are already working with a committee, which will spend the next six months investigating the best way to establish this new category, which will surely mean having more swimming events in the world, so details must be handled with caution.
What Is the Reason for This Decision by FINA? What has happened in the world of swimming?
FINA’s previous gender inclusion policy was proving unfair to some female competitors, and was driving an unwanted wedge into the world of swimming.
In March, transgender swimmer Lia Thomas made U.S. history as the first transgender swimmer to win an NCAA swimming championship. In addition, Thomas broke all swimming records in the 200-meter and 500-meter freestyle at the University of Pennsylvania, which caused a huge stir not only in the country, but around the world.
Lia Thomas commented in May that she had the goal of becoming an Olympic swimmer. Nancy Hogshead-Makar, who is an Olympic gold medalist, wrote an opinion piece for the Daily Mail titled: “It wasn’t fair to compete against doping Germans and it’s not fair for women to compete against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas: here’s why.”
The decision was not taken lightly, as FINA heard presentations from three different groups of specialists: athletes, scientists and doctors, and a human rights group, and after discussion, the Congress approved the new policy with a percentage of votes in favor of 71.5%.
Predictably, responses from activist groups in favor of inclusion of LGBTQ+ athletes were not long in coming, and will surely resonate for several more weeks to come.
