FINA Restricts Transgender Women From Competing at Elite Level (original) (raw)

Sports|FINA Restricts Transgender Women From Competing at Elite Level

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/19/sports/fina-transgender-women-elite-swimming.html

You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.

The international swimming federation said transgender women who had experienced male puberty could not compete in women’s events.

Lia Thomas, a transgender woman, swimming at the Ivy League women’s swimming and diving championships in February. The new FINA policy will bar swimmers like her from elite women’s competitions.Credit...Joseph Prezioso/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Published June 19, 2022Updated June 22, 2022

The world governing body for swimming effectively barred transgender women from the highest levels of women’s international competition on Sunday, intensifying a debate over gender and sports that has roiled state legislatures and increasingly divided parents, athletes and coaches at all levels.

The vote by FINA, which administers international competitions in water sports, prohibits transgender women from competing unless they began medical treatments to suppress production of testosterone before going through one of the early stages of puberty, or by age 12, whichever occurred later. It establishes one of the strictest rules against transgender participation in international sports. Scientists believe the onset of male puberty gives transgender women a lasting, irreversible physical advantage over athletes who were female at birth.

World swimming would also establish a new, “open” category for athletes who identify as women but do not meet the requirement to compete against people who were female at birth.

More than 70 percent of FINA’s member federations voted to adopt the policy, which was devised by a working group set up in November that included athletes, scientists and medical and legal experts. The policy will go into effect Monday, just days after the start of the world swimming championships in Budapest.

“We have to protect the rights of our athletes to compete, but we also have to protect competitive fairness at our events, especially the women’s category at FINA competitions,” Husain al-Musallam, the president of the federation, said in statement.

There are no transgender women competing at the world swimming championships.

The move, however, came just three months after Lia Thomas became the first transgender woman to win an N.C.A.A. Division I swimming championship — she won the 500-yard women’s freestyle — putting a spotlight on the issue. She has said little about her win, but recently told Sports Illustrated: “I’m not a man. I’m a woman, so I belong on the women’s team.” She has also said that she hopes to try to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team in 2024. Under the new rule, she would not be eligible to compete there.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT