{"id":615146,"date":"2025-06-17T08:17:08","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T15:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=615146"},"modified":"2025-06-17T09:50:51","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T16:50:51","slug":"guest-editorial-usms-do-not-marginalize-transgender-swimmers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/guest-editorial-usms-do-not-marginalize-transgender-swimmers\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Editorial: USMS &#8211; Do Not Marginalize Transgender Swimmers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Guest Editorial: USMS &#8211; Do Not Marginalize Transgender Swimmers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>By <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kerri N McCaffrey<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dear <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Swimming World <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Community,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I am a transgender Masters swimmer and have competed in various genders and age groups over my lifetime. Currently, I am 61 years old. Starting around 1995, I began taking hormones and initiated my transition from the male to female gender\u2014capped by my complete \u2018bottom\u2019 surgery (vaginoplasty, etc.) in February of 2005. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I was a public school teacher in New Jersey and had to fight an initial and longer-term battle to maintain my employment, which I did. While I swam on my own\u2014my Masters career was totally shuttered when I began to take female hormones. On the one hand, I began to add body fat I had not had before\u2014especially breast tissue and an added layer of fat in my hips, thighs, and buttocks areas. When I reentered the pool after some time off, my body was more buoyant, and I had to adjust my stroke and turns to account for this. I had lost muscle mass, but my bone structure remained pretty much as it had been prior to surgery when I had my male anatomy. After transition, I was essentially pulling way more in the pool with less muscle availability to do it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, I made a decision at the time not to compete in my new gender; I just felt it was not time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With every state being different regarding transgender locker-room use laws\u2014I felt that I had to be very careful when, in 2012, I finally swam at a meet in Florida. Could I change in the female locker room at this meet or could I not? Would I be arrested if I did so because someone suspected I was transgender and reported me? I \u201csolved\u201d my issue (admittedly, not well) at this meet by not going to the restroom at all\u2014and by not showering before my five-hour drive to my parents\u2019 house in Northern Florida. It was not ideal, and I again\u2014for a long time\u2014returned to just swimming on my own rather than risk possible arrest for using the locker\/restroom facilities in a jurisdiction where it might be illegal for me to do so. Other people who are trans make similar decisions\u2014holding off using the restrooms during practices, meets, or on long drives; I am not alone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the meantime, I finished my teaching career (high school and fifth grade\u2014as well as coaching a few years of prep school swimming in Illinois). I have begun swimming Masters again. Last summer, I contacted the head of the committee that handles <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/u-s-masters-releases-interim-policy-on-transgender-competitors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">USMS trans athletes<\/a> and turned over about 20 years of testing. My constant testosterone level is well below what a biological female produces\u2014and has been this way since my transgender surgery in 2005. I continue to test to keep my eligibility (I have a letter of eligibility from USMS). I have had five testosterone tests over the past year\u2014my latest test, for the curious\u2014 was 0.2427 nmols\/L. The threshold for me to compete\u2014when USMS had their testing in place just days ago, was 5.0 nmols\/L or less. As you can see, I have only trace testosterone levels present in my body due to having had male to female bottom surgery.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I wanted to write to say that I would like USMS to revert back to its very recently abandoned policy which allowed post-operative trans females (i.e., born male but having surgically transitioned to female\u2014also referred to as \u201cM to F) to continue to be able to swim \u201cofficially\u201d as females if they meet the testing requirements USMS had in place (a year of testing showing testosterone levels at or below below 5 nmols\/L).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I have not been \u201ca star\u201d in the female division nationally in any way. As a matter of fact, a look at my top-10s over the years shows that I was more competitive swimming in the men\u2019s division (before my transition) than I have been as a female:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Career Top 10\u2019s (TT) USMS<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>*All Breastroke Races<\/b><\/p>\n<p><strong>TT Rnk. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Course \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Time\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Age\u00a0 \u00a0Gen<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># 6\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 1992 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 100 SCY \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 1:00.43\u00a0 \u00a0 24-29\u00a0 Male<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># 3\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 1994 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 100 LCM \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 1:11.4\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 30-34\u00a0 Male<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># 2\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 1994 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 200 LCM\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 2:38.72 \u00a0 30-34\u00a0 Male<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># 5\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 1995 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 200 SCY\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 2:14.86 \u00a0 30-34\u00a0 Male<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># 5\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 1995 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 100 LCM \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 1:12.27\u00a0 \u00a0 30-34\u00a0 Male<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># 2\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 1995 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 200 LCM \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 2:38.16\u00a0 \u00a0 30-34\u00a0 Male<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Below, As Female, 2012 (45-49 age group)<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>*All Breastroke<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># 3\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 50 LCM\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 39.32\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># 5 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 100 LCM\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 1:27.08\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Unranked<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0 200 LCM\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 3:20.13\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Below, As Female Again\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2024-2025 (60-64 age group)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>*All Breastroke<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">*The following are not officially Top Tens yet as these are from 2024-2025. 2024 Nationals are extracted here:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># 7\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 50 \u00a0 \u00a0 SCY \u00a0 \u00a0 36.7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># 6 \u00a0 \u00a0 100\u00a0 \u00a0 SCY 1:19.67\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"># 4\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 200\u00a0 \u00a0 SCY 2:56.03\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I know there are people who say transgender athletes swim as females because \u201cwe couldn\u2019t cut it\u201d in the male division. That is not why I began transition in my 30s (finishing at age 41 with surgery). It was to live as <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">my true\u00a0<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">self.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> I have dealt with so much over the years\u2014regrets (I had them\u2014like many people who are trans do\u2014but I <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">no longer regret anything<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). Having passing regrets about transition does not mean one needs to detransition. I did not detransition when such regrets came, thankfully, and I am at peace now\u201420 years as a fully transitioned female. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I never stopped taking my estrogen\/HRT in all that time.\u00a0 A record I set in NJ LMSC Masters turns 30 years-old this summer, and in high school I was a state champion (NJ, 1981) and on a Division III All-American relay, in 1983. So I did not transition out of a need to win races\u2014but to be at peace. I would like to continue to swim officially as \u201cKerri\u201d because it is who I am now and more importantly for competitive Masters swimming, it is fair for me to do so based on the evidence cited in my top-10 performances in both genders and by being nearly devoid of testosterone for two decades.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I love Masters swimming because of the friendships I have made and because the challenging workouts are much more fun when done with trusted others who are reliable, possess unbelievable and inspiring inner strength, and don\u2019t back down from challenges. I also like to compete\u2014but at this point, I really only want to race if USMS allows me to \u201cofficially\u201d be myself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, I am against placing a swimmer such as myself into a &#8220;catch-all,&#8221;\u00a0 \u201cOpen,\u201d or \u201cNon-Binary\u201d division unless the swimmers who enter that division are required to test for lowered testosterone levels for extended periods of time\u2014and can prove that they have met the criteria for lowered testosterone (I tested five times last year \u2014paying for the tests myself\u2014and reported each of those results to USMS). I passed every test. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are trans people who were born male\u2014but are now living as women or non-binary\u2014who do not want female hormone treatments and androgen blockers\u2014they simply want to live as female or non-binary without lowering their testosterone or having surgery. This is their choice and I respect it, but having these people in an Open\/Non-Binary Division is not fair to a post-operative male to female person who basically has no testosterone in her body\u2014like me. If the Open Division were for those post-operative M to F swimmers (those having had bottom surgery)\u2014or for individuals who are M to F transgender without surgery but who abided by rigorous testosterone level testing, then I would readily swim in that division.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, I would ask that USMS not make a person like me who is a post-operative transgender choose between competing \u201cofficially\u201d as a male or \u201cunofficially\u201d as a female. Yes, I understand how I was born\u2014but for the sake of sport\u2014both ways of dealing with me as a person who is \u201cpost-op trans\u201d make me feel different and \u2018less than.\u2019 If I swam as a male and took my shirt off on the block\u2014you would see the difference! And while I would never do that\u2014you get the point. And having me swim \u2018unofficially\u2019 as a female makes me feel like I am really not being fully accepted by USMS\u2014sort of a \u201cyes, you are a woman\u2014but stay over there\u201d way of dealing with me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I urge USMS, to immediately make the correct decision and reverse course\u2014allowing postoperative M to F transgender individuals to compete \u201cofficially\u201d in the female USMS divisions\u2014not as unofficial afterthoughts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thank you\u2014and thank you to my fellow swimmers of all ages for taking the time to see that there are many nuances to this issue that are not always spoken about in social media or on the news.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kerri N McCaffrey<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Guest Editorial: USMS &#8211; Do Not Marginalize Transgender Swimmers By Kerri N McCaffrey Dear Swimming World Community, I am a transgender Masters swimmer and have competed in various genders and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67367,"featured_media":382585,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,17,9],"tags":[35735,51820,4471],"class_list":["post-615146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-commentary","category-masters","tag-masters-2","tag-transgender","tag-usms"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 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