Swimming's international governing body, FINA, voted on Sunday to restrict the participation of transgender athletes in elite women's swimming competitions.
Why it matters: For athletes like Lia Thomas, who earlier this year became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I title and has expressed hopes of swimming in the Olympics, the new policy could dash dreams of competing in such elite events.
State of play: The new policy requires transgender athletes to have completed their transition by the age of 12 in order to be eligible for elite competitions, BBC Sports reported.
- The policy, which also aims to establish an "open" category for transgender athletes to compete in, was approved by 71% of FINA's 152 national federation members, per ESPN.
- In a press release, FINA said the new "policy on gender inclusion" will come into force on June 20.
The big picture: The move to restrict access for transgender swimmers comes as a number of states have passed bills aimed at preventing trans students from participating in youth sports.
- Some states are also trying to restrict youth access to gender-affirming care, policies which would make complying with FINA's "transition before 12" policy impossible.
What they're saying: "FINA's approach in drafting this policy was comprehensive, science-based and inclusive, and, importantly, FINA's approach emphasized competitive fairness," Brent Nowicki, the governing body's executive director, said in a statement, BBC Sports reported.
Our thought bubble, from Axios' Ina Fried: This is one impact of the Olympics urging inclusion but leaving the actual decisions up to sports governing bodies.
- It is one of the harshest policies of any sport toward transgender athletes, where most allow trans women to compete if they have taken hormones for a specific amount of time or have testosterone below certain levels.
- In 2020, World Rugby became the first international sports federation to completely ban transgender women from global competitions.
