New USA Swimming Policy Seeks To Strike Gender Inclusion Balance Between Fairness To Women & Trans Athletes
USA Swimming has made a tentative but potentially impossible bid to stroke a balance between the right of biological women to compete against biological women and honour a commitment to gender inclusion policies for trans athletes in a sport like swimming, in which sex, not gender, defines fairness.
The issue is not new but case of Lia Thomas in U.S. college competition has highlighted the unfair nature of allowing trans women who grow from boy to man before making a choice to change gender. The NCAA has a since dropped a policy in favour of “following USA Swimming” that allowed Thomas to compete in women’s racing without taking account of many of the developmental differences between men and women, all the key ones significant to swimming performance.
The new policy rules out the “open category” that many women would like to see and removes the long-held expectation of biological women to race only their biological peers. While the same is true for men, the impact of transgender men in men’s sport is highly unlikely to change the dynamic of elite male swimming for similar reasons to those that tell us why the opposite is true in women’s racing.
USA Swimming is attempting to ensure ‘fairness’ for women while including those transwomen who can show that they have ‘no advantage’, or no male-development benefits, which science shows to go well beyond testosterone levels. How will ‘no advantage’ be proven? That remains to be seen.
You can read about the science and why it matters here:
With all that gender learning in mind, a USA Swimming statement launching its USA Swimming Releases Athlete Inclusion, Competitive Equity and Eligibility Policy, which goes beyond transgender, notes:
The elite athlete policy will be implemented by a decision-making panel comprised of three independent medical experts and eligibility criteria will consist of:
- Evidence that the prior physical development of the athlete as a male, as mitigated by any medical intervention, does not give the athlete a competitive advantage over the athlete’s cisgender female competitors.
- Evidence that the concentration of testosterone in the athlete’s serum has been less than 5 nmol/L (as measured by liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry) continuously for a period of at least thirty-six (36) months before the date of application.
Those words will be welcomed as a much-needed improvement of the current situation but deliver more uncertainty and will need much meat on bone and explanation. Myriad questions run, such as:
What evidence; how will ‘no advantage’ be shown or ‘proven’ and can there be proof of such a thing in context; which body of experts will determine what evidence is required; whose responsibility is it to provide the evidence; who assesses that evidence; what complaint and appeal processes will be available to athletes and other stakeholders in the sport; who can submit complaints and appeals; who provides the checks and balances to all aforementioned questions; who will review the criteria as science evolves; what time frames go alongside the requirements? And so on.
Immediate reaction from women in sport included this from Sharron Davies, a British Olympic medallist deprived of several prizes by GDR doping and its androgenising effects on the girls she raced against:
The complete inclusion policy, for both elite and non-elite athletes – part of the USA Swimming Operating Policy Manual – is available online and, at a glance, answers some but far from all questions.
The policy kicks in from the age of 13, roughly in line with puberty. That means that under 13s are classified as non-elite, even though they could not only be elite within two years of the policy age-line but could even be Olympic champions. The age cut means that we could see an athlete who grew up as a boy until 12 making a gender choice that could mean they are competing in elite sport two years later as a girl.
The decisions in such cases may remove the question of male-development impact but will remain a subject of political debate and discussion among those with opposing views on whether children should begin sex-change therapy before they reach puberty, given that such children are not old enough to be given the right to vote, to have sex, to drink alcohol, to engage in other activities and freedoms open to adults but could decide or be persuaded to decide to make irreversible changes to their bodies.
Statement From USA Swimming On Gender Inclusion:
USA Swimming Releases Athlete Inclusion, Competitive Equity and Eligibility Policy
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Following several months of internal work, critical stakeholder discussions, and medical and legal review, and in light of updated information regarding the Fédération Internationale de Natation’s (FINA) policy development, USA Swimming has elected to release its Athlete Inclusion, Competitive Equity and Eligibility Policy.
This policy, effective immediately, is applicable only to USA Swimming athlete members and approved elite events as defined in the policy and will remain in place until the release of an elite policy by FINA.
USA Swimming has and will continue to champion gender equity and the inclusivity of all cisgender and transgender women and their rights to participate in sport, while also fervently supporting competitive equity at elite levels of competition.
The development of the elite policy therefore acknowledges a competitive difference in the male and female categories and the disadvantages this presents in elite head-to-head competition. This is supported by statistical data that shows that the top-ranked female in 2021, on average, would be ranked 536th across all short course yards (25 yards) male events in the country and 326th across all long course meters (50 meters) male events in the country, among USA Swimming members. The policy therefore supports the need for competitive equity at the most elite levels of competition.
While recognizing the need for the aforementioned guidelines in elite competition, sport is an important vehicle for positive physical and mental health, and, for this reason, USA Swimming remains steadfast in its continued commitment to greater inclusivity at the non-elite levels.
In order to balance these two priorities, specific guidelines have been developed for both non-elite and elite athletes and elite events. At the non-elite level, an inclusive process has been established by which an athlete can elect to change their competition category in order for them to experience the sport of swimming in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity and expression. At the elite level, a policy has been created for transgender athlete participation in the U.S. that relies on science and medical evidence-based methods to provide a level-playing field for elite cisgender women, and to mitigate the advantages associated with male puberty and physiology. Elite athletes shall include any athlete who has achieved a time standard and desires to participate in elite events as defined in the policy.
The elite athlete policy will be implemented by a decision-making panel comprised of three independent medical experts and eligibility criteria will consist of:
- Evidence that the prior physical development of the athlete as a male, as mitigated by any medical intervention, does not give the athlete a competitive advantage over the athlete’s cisgender female competitors.
- Evidence that the concentration of testosterone in the athlete’s serum has been less than 5 nmol/L (as measured by liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry) continuously for a period of at least thirty-six (36) months before the date of application.
Athletes will need to abide by USA Swimming’s Athlete Inclusion, Competitive Equity and Eligibility Policy to be eligible to set USA Swimming National Age-Group Records in the 13-14 age group and above or to be eligible to set an American Record, per the USA Swimming Rules & Regulations, in a competition category which is different than the gender assigned to the athlete at birth.
USA Swimming’s policy is not applicable to non-USA Swimming athlete members nor non-approved Elite events, as defined in the policy.
USA Swimming will continue to learn and to evaluate its policy, with a focus on balancing inclusion and equity, and will continue to work closely with FINA on global standards.
The complete policy, for both elite and non-elite athletes, which is part of the USA Swimming Operating Policy Manual, is available online at https://www.usaswimming.org/inclusion.