Swimmings World Governing Body, Fina, have voted to stop transgender athletes from competing if they have gone through any part of male puberty.
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Fina, swimming’s World Governing Body, have voted to stop transgender athletes competing.
That is, if they have gone through any part of male puberty.
The new policy requires transgender competitors to have completed their transition at the age of 12 in order to compete.
They will, however, aim to establish an ‘open’ category at competitions for swimmers whose gender is different than the one they were assigned at birth, reports BBC News.
The new policy was passed with 71% of the vote.
And despite some backlash, Fina are describing the move as the first step towards ‘full inclusion’ for transgender athletes.
Brent Nowicki, the governing body’s executive director, said:
“Fina’s approach in drafting this policy was comprehensive, science-based and inclusive, and, importantly, Fina’s approach emphasised competitive fairness.”
Fina president Husain Al-Musallam added that the move was to ‘protect the rights of our athletes’ but also to ‘protect competitive fairness’.
He said: “Fina will always welcome every athlete. The creation of an open category will mean that everybody has the opportunity to compete at an elite level. This has not been done before, so Fina will need to lead the way. I want all athletes to feel included in being able to develop ideas during this process.”
While many are championing the move, Athlete Ally, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group claimed that the policy is ‘discriminatory, harmful, unscientific, and not in line with the 2021 IOC principles’.
Former GB Swimmer, Sharron Davies, however, supported the move, saying she was ‘proud’ of her sport and Fina.