USA Swimming announced a new policy on transgender swimmers Tuesday, spelling out detailed medical requirements for trans women specifically. The same day, swimmers at the University of Pennsylvania wrote an open letter backing a trans teammate after she faced blowback for setting school records.
USA Swimming said that panels of three medical experts will evaluate each individual trans swimmer who wishes to compete at the elite level and make a determination whether her physical development prior to transitioning gives her an unfair advantage over her cisgender competitors. Her testosterone levels must be less than 5 nanomoles per liter for three continuous years or more. The policy applies to swimmers ages 13 and older who want their race times to count towards potential records in high-level competitions nationwide.
The announcement came as members of the Penn women’s swimming and diving team released a statement backing their trans teammate Lia Thomas, a trans woman who spent three years competing on the Penn men’s swim team. Anonymous accounts attributed to a women’s swim team member had bashed Thomas and said she should not compete. Thomas has also become a minor obsession of the political right, which has long made banning trans athletes in high school sports a cause in the culture war.
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The athletes wrote, “We want to express our full support for Lia in her transition. We value her as a person, teammate, and friend. The sentiments put forward by an anonymous member of our team are not representative of the feelings, values, and opinions of the entire Penn team.”
Thomas has competed with the women’s team this year and set multiple school records. How USA Swimming’s policy will affect her competitive chances is unclear. Her senior year saga is not over, though the swimming season nearly is. She has qualified for the NCAA championships in the 200-yard, 500-yard, and 1,650-yard freestyle.
USA Swimming said in a statement, “The development of the elite policy acknowledges a competitive difference in the male and female categories and the disadvantages this presents in elite head-to-head competition. This is supported by statistical data that shows that the top-ranked female in 2021, on average, would be ranked 536th across all short course yards male events in the country and 326th across all long course meters male events in the country, among USA Swimming members.”
Under the new guidelines, swimmers competing at lower levels are given freer reign, competing “in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity and expression,” according to USA Swimming.
USA Swimming said its policy will remain in place until swimming’s worldwide governing body FINA issues one of its own. Last month, the NCAA said that its policies on trans athletes would be determined sport-by-sport, likely meaning that USA Swimming’s policy will govern the college conference’s aquatics.
