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.
