Transgender women have been effectively banned from competing in women’s events, starting Monday, by the world swimming’s governing body FINA, whose new gender inclusion policy adopted on Sunday only permits swimmers who transitioned before age 12 to compete in women’s events.
The spokesperson for FINA president Husain Al-Musallam, James Pearce, pointed out that far from encouraging persons to transition by the age of 12, which would be ridiculous, it is not feasible for athletes who have transitioned to compete without having an advantage.
As Pearce underlined, it is the science that says that if a person transitions after the start of puberty, he will have an advantage, which is unfair in competitions. He also confirmed that no transgender woman is currently competing in elite levels of swimming.
That is why the new 24-page policy also includes proposals for a new “open competition” category, and FINA is already setting up a new working group that will look for the most effective ways to set up this category in the next six months.
The open competition would most likely mean more events, but Pearce noted that those details still need to be worked out since no one quite knows how that is going to work.
Meanwhile, the rules around transgender athletes have been examined in other sports too.
Last week, the International Cycling Union (UCI) updated its eligibility rules for transgender riders imposing stricter limits that will force them to wait longer before they can compete.
The cycling’s governing body lowered the maximum accepted level of testosterone and also increased the transition period on low testosterone to two years from the previously mandated 12 months after recent scientific studies showed that it takes two years for the awaited adaptations to finish in muscle mass and muscle strength/power among athletes who have made a transition from male to female.
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