World Aquatics, swimming鈥檚 governing body, has created an open category for transgender athletes at a World Cup event in Berlin.
The new category will be open for 鈥渁ll sex and gender identities鈥 and will include 50m and 100m races across all strokes.鈥
鈥淭his pioneering pilot project highlights the organisation鈥檚 unwavering commitment to inclusivity,鈥 a statement from World Aquatics read.
It added: 鈥淒etailed entry requirements and entry times and process information will be available soon.鈥
鈥淔or this inaugural event, the emphasis is on gaining further experience for future development and celebrating diversity.鈥
Last year, World Aquatics 鈥 formerly known as FINA 鈥 voted to restrict transgender athletes from competing in elite women鈥檚 aquatics competitions.
The gender inclusion policy 鈥 which went into effect on June 20, 2022 鈥 dictated that male-to-female transgender athletes would only be eligible to compete in the women鈥檚 categories if they transition before the age of 12 or before they reach stage two on the puberty Tanner Scale.
The policy also says athletes who have previously used testosterone as part of female-to-male gender-affirming hormone treatment would only be eligible to compete in women鈥檚 competitions if the testosterone was used for less than a year in total, the treatment didn鈥檛 take place during puberty and testosterone levels in serum were back to pre-treatment levels.
At the time, the governing body promised to establish a new working group in order to develop open category events for athletes that do not meet the criteria for men鈥檚 or women鈥檚 categories.
World Aquatics oversees aquatic competitions in swimming, water polo, diving, artistic swimming, open water swimming and high diving.
The World Cup event in Berlin, Germany, will run from October 6 to 8 later this year.
Kai Morgenroth, vice-president of the German swimming federation 鈥 which is hosting the event 鈥 said his organization. was thrilled to be part of the inaugural initiative.
鈥淲e鈥檙e proud to host an event where swimmers can compete without barriers,鈥 he said in a statement.
鈥淏erlin is Germany鈥檚 hub for diversity and inclusion and therefore the perfect location for such a progressive project.鈥
鈥楧颈蝉尘补测别诲鈥
Athlete Ally, an advocacy group which works to end homophobia and transphobia in sport, told CNN Sport it was 鈥渄ismayed鈥 by the World Aquatics decision, which it says 鈥減romotes further othering and alienation of transgender athletes who already face tremendous stigma and abuse.鈥
It added: 鈥淎s a society, we decided long ago that 鈥榮eparate but equal鈥 is dangerous and damaging. This policy does nothing to provide the kind of protections to women athletes that they have been calling for decades 鈥 an end to sexual harassment and abuse, parity in pay and leadership, equal opportunities, and a lack of resources for women athletes.
鈥淚nstead, this only increases hostile gender norms and invasive testing that hurt all women athletes.鈥
CNN has reached out to World Aquatics for comment.
The debate on transgender women in swimming, which led to the new gender inclusion policy and open category, came under a spotlight when University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, who started on the school鈥檚 men鈥檚 swimming team in 2017, eventually joined the UPenn women鈥檚 team in 2020.
At the time of her transition in 2019, the NCAA required that transgender athletes have one year of hormone replacement therapy to be cleared to compete.
In February 2022, 16 members of the University of Pennsylvania鈥檚 swim team sent a letter to the university and the Ivy League asking them to not challenge the NCAA鈥檚 new transgender athlete participation policies that would prevent Thomas and other transgender athletes to compete.
In the letter, they argued Thomas had an 鈥渦nfair advantage,鈥 and said they supported her gender transition out of the pool but not necessarily in it.
Despite the backlash, Penn Athletics and the Ivy League maintained their support for the transgender swimmer, and over 300 current and former swimmers signed their names to an open letter defending her ability to compete.
As a swimmer on the women鈥檚 team, Thomas became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I title after winning the women鈥檚 500-yard freestyle event in March 2022.
Advocates of banning transgender women from women鈥檚 sport have argued that transgender women have a physical advantage over cisgender women in sports.
But the mainstream science does not support that conclusion. A 2017 report in the journal Sports Medicine that reviewed several related studies found 鈥渘o direct or consistent research鈥 on Trans people having an athletic advantage over their cisgender peers, and critics say the bans add to the discrimination trans people face.
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