Swim England has announced a new transgender policy with “open” and “female” categories for all its licensed events after arguing that “fair competition” must be the backbone of its approach. From September, athletes with a birth sex of male, or who are transgender or non-binary, must compete in the new “open” category for all Swim England’s licensed events. Athletes with a birth sex of female have their own protected category.
The new rules, which follows a consultation of more than 2,000 members, stakeholders and advocacy groups, will apply for swimming, artistic swimming, diving and water polo in all events where times and competition are considered important.
Unlike World Swimming, Swim England has decided against a ban on transgender women in female sport. Its new policy contains provision for athletes to self-ID in low-level “unlicensed” events, such as intra-club recreational races. But the timings and scores posted at these events will not be applicable to Swim England rankings or eligible as records.
Mike Hawkes, Swim England’s head of diversity and inclusion, said the new policy allowed for a “two-tier” approach that would preserve the sanctity of competition while also ensuring the sport remained inclusive as possible. “As a result of the strength of feeling displayed via our independent consultation, we recognise that fair competition is considered the backbone of our aquatic sports and therefore must be prioritised,” he said.
“We do believe, however, that any measures put in place should be minimally obstructive and only go as far as is necessary to maintain sporting integrity across our competition and talent pathways.”
World Swimming banned transgender women from the female category last year shortly after Lia Thomas, who had been a moderate college swimmer as a male competitor in the United States, won an NCAA national college women’s title in 2022. Hawkes said Swim England had decided against a blanket ban. “We understand there’s a nervousness that trans athletes are going to impact cisgender athletes’ opportunities – be that sporting, in terms of progressing through the talent pathway, or commercial. And even what you’re seeing in the US with regard to Lia Thomas.
“But we believe what we’ve provided is a policy that will allow for grassroots inclusion up to the highest level possible, at which point competitive integrity then needs to take priority. It’s not the best of both worlds, but it’s certainly the best we believe is possible.”
Hawkes also pointed to further nuances in the policy, such as the ban on transgender women playing recreational water polo with female players at senior level due to safety concerns.
He added that the new policy reflected the guidance from the Sports Councils Equality Group in September 2021, which said there was no magic solution that balances the inclusion of trans women in female sport while guaranteeing competitive fairness and safety and told sports to choose which to prioritise.
Even so, acknowledged that the policy would be criticised by those on either side of the argument. “This isn’t something we’ve done over a period of weeks,” he said. “But there will be questions, and there will be blowback, because it is probably the most contentious and emotive topic in sport at the moment.”
