NCAA Committee to Review New USA Swimming Transgender Policy in Late February

NCAA Committee to Review New USA Swimming Transgender Policy in Late February

Following USA Swimming’s publication of new guidelines and more restrictive rules regarding transgender participation, a representative from the NCAA told Swimming World in an email that “CSMAS (the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports) will review this change at its next meeting and will make recommendations as it deems appropriate to the NCAA Board of Governors.” According to a report from the New York Times, that meeting will take place sometime in late February.

The report indicated that the NCAA would not confirm a specific date for the meeting and that any recommendations would have to be approved by the NCAA Board of Governors. According to the NYT, the Board of Governors has not slated a meeting prior to April, but it remains possible that “the board could meet earlier in a remote format, possibly in advance of the NCAA swimming championships, which begin in Atlanta on March 16.”

This means that any final decision regarding Lia Thomas’ eligibility for the NCAA meet could come down to the wire. Typically, an unofficial psych sheet for the NCAA championships would be announced about two weeks prior to the competition (this year, that date would project to be March 1), so the NCAA may not have an opportunity to rule on Thomas’ status until after that time.

Following USA Swimming’s announcement of the rule changes, it appeared Thomas might be ruled out of the national meet, but the questions about their implementation might provide an opening for the Penn senior to compete after all.

According to USA Swimming’s new rule, no transgender athlete would be allowed to compete in the women’s category prior to showing that her concentration of testosterone in serum has been less than 5 nmol/L for a continuous period of 36 months. Further, transgender athletes hoping to compete in women’s events would also have to provide “evidence that the prior physical development of the athlete as a male, as mitigated by any medical intervention, does not give the athlete a competitive advantage over the athlete’s cisgender female competitors.” Final determination of eligibility would be made by a panel.

Read the full report from the New York Times here.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

Name*

Email*

6 Comments

Oldest

Newest Most Voted

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Jessica

2 years ago

Does anyone know if organizations like the NCAA, USA Swimming, FINA, IOC, etc. allow female-to-male transgender athletes to boost their testosterone levels? And if so, what are the parameters?

2 years ago

Can this man or any man wanting to compete in women’s sports prove that they are women?

If not, why are we destroying women’s hopes, dreams, camaraderie, lifetime mental & physical health benefits and SCHOLARSHIPS for men with feelings in their heads?

I’m a swimmer: I feel in my head that I should be an Olympic champion – do I get to demand changes to the rules of competitive swimming to achieve that IRL?

Does a 17-year-old get to compete against a 4-year-old because he feels “Trans-Age”? What’s the difference between trans-gender and trans-racial and trans-age and any other unprovable feeling in a head?

This is the Emperor’s New Clothes – we’re all supposed to pretend men are women, but now the S is hitting the fan and women’s sports are being destroyed.

And, according to one of these UPenn women swimmers, this “woman” is exposing “her” male genitalia in the women’s locker room.

If a man exposed himself on the street, he would be arrested. But in this Brave New World all a man has to do is claim to be a woman and he gets to enter a women’s locker room where women and children of all ages are naked.

This is not right. None of this is right.

Allison Gober

2 years ago

Reply to Em

Do you mind if I share what you’ve written here on Instagram?

2 years ago

Reply to Allison Gober

Please do.

If everyone who is a WOMAN, or who loves women, doesn’t speak out now, if will be a lot more than women’s swimming that will be destroyed.

Men – it’s time to stand up and speak up for your mother, daughter, sister, friend…

Sherry

2 years ago

If the athlete has male DNA they should not be able to compete against female athletes…it is an unfair advantage and it is cheating! Shame on anyone or any organization that allows this to happen! No respect!!!

Vincent Green

2 years ago

Transwomen should compete with women. After all they are women. Duh.