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The world governing body for swimming competitions, FINA, has officially adopted new rules to restrict transgender athletes from competing in women's events. Instead, the organization has plans to cater better to the said group without affecting the level of competition.
According to the Associated Press (via Yahoo), 71.5 percent of FINA members voted in favor of a new “gender inclusion policy.” The said policy still allows transgender athletes to compete in women's events, but only if they transitioned before the age of 12.
Of course FINA is not encouraging people to transition before 12 and instead explained there is science behind the decision.
Article Continues Below“It’s what the scientists are saying, that if you transition after the start of puberty, you have an advantage, which is unfair,” said James Pearce, who is the spokesperson for FINA president Husain Al-Musallam.
“They’re not saying everyone should transition by age 11, that’s ridiculous. You can’t transition by that age in most countries and hopefully you wouldn’t be encouraged to. Basically, what they’re saying is that it is not feasible for people who have transitioned to compete without having an advantage.”
So does that mean that those who transitioned after age 12 will be banned from participating in women's swimming competitions? Well, not really since FINA is also working to have a new “open competition” category to pave the way for transgender athletes to compete–just not in women's competitions.
The issue about transgender athletes competing in women's swimming has been a major talking point ever since Penn swimmer Lia Thomas made US history as the first-ever transgender athlete to win the NCAA swimming championship for the 500-yard freestyle.
While there is currently no transgender athlete competing in elite swimming, it remains to be seen how the new policy will foster inclusion of the said group.
