The transgender category of the swimming World Cup has been cancelled due to a lack of entries. Last year, transgender women were prohibited from participating in elite female sports events, prompting World Aquatics to introduce a new category for athletes whose gender identity differs from their assigned sex at birth.
The introduction of the Open category aimed to promote fairness in sports. The swimming World Cup, scheduled to commence in Berlin on October 6th, implemented new regulations for transgender swimmers, barring biological males from competing in the women’s category unless they had completed their transition before the age of 12 and maintained testosterone levels below a specified threshold.
In response to this rule, transgender swimmers have expressed their desire to continue competing against women and have chosen not to enter the open category, which would have involved competing against fellow transgender individuals. Consequently, World Aquatics announced on October 3rd that no transgender swimmers had registered for the events, prompting a reassessment of their policy for elite competitions.
“Following the close of registration for the open category competitions, World Aquatics can confirm that no entries have been received for the Open Category events,” they said in a statement.
“The World Aquatics open category working group will continue its work and engagement with the aquatics community on open category events. Even if there is no current demand at the elite level, the working group is planning to look at the possibility of including open category races at masters events in the future.”
After the controversy involving American Lia Thomas, who became the first known transgender swimmer to win the top US national collegiate title, World Aquatics amended their rules last year.
Swimming was followed by other sports, such as athletics and cycling, which forbade transgender women from competing in the female division. However, World Aquatics is the first to attempt to organize a third division distinct from men’s and women’s competitions.
