With the World Aquatics Championships starting this week in Doha, Qatar, the ongoing debate regarding the classification of transgender swimmers became news once again around the world.

Reporting in Inside The Games, David Rubio Salguero wrote about the case that pool swimmer Lia Thomas [shown below with brought to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS headquarters shown above) against World Aquatics. The mission of the CAS is to resolve sports disputes through arbitration. The CAS received a request for arbitration where she challenged the World Aquatics’ Men’s and Women’s Competition Category Eligibility Policies and Related Operational Requirements (read here).

Thomas is shown below with John Dowling Coates AC, Vice President of the International Olympic Committee and president of the CAS and the International Council of Arbitration for Sport that will hear Thomas’ case.

Salguero reports, “Thomas accepts that fair competition is a legitimate sporting objective and that some regulation of transgender women in swimming is appropriate.  However, she contends that the challenged rules are invalid and unlawful because they discriminate against her in violation of the Olympic Charter, the World Aquatics Constitution, and Swiss law including the European Convention on Human Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; and that such discrimination cannot be justified as necessary, reasonable, or proportionate to achieve a legitimate sporting objective.”

It the CAS judges in Thomas’ favor, then provisions would be deemed unlawful, void, and without force or effect – enabling her to potentially compete at the Paris Olympics and beyond in elite international competitions. 

In response to the recent article, Where is the Open Water Swimming Community on Transgender Athletes?, and judging from the social media feedback, it appears that the open water swimming community is largely – but not overwhelmingly, in favor of transgender swimmers competing in the male or female category of their choice.

While a top-level swimmer like Thomas has not yet competed on the professional marathon swimming circuit or attempted one of the Oceans Seven channels with record-setting goals in mind, the open water swimming community – at least judging from public comments posted on Facebook – seems to be lending its support to the transgender community.

Salguero also wrote about the background of the case by Thomas, “In June 2022, World Aquatics released a new eligibility policy for its competitions, stating that male-to-female transgender athletes would be eligible to compete in the women’s categories only if they can establish that they have not experienced any part of male puberty beyond Tanner Stage 2 (of puberty) or before age 12, whichever is later. Up until then, transgender women could compete as long as they lowered their testosterone levels.”

The hat below is symbolic of the debate and issue. Both transgender athletes and cis athletes agree with the saying: Women’s Sports Are For Women. However, the opposing camps have different interpretations of how to define women vis-a-vis athletic competitions.

The outcome of the Thomas versus Court of Arbitration for Sport may impact future decisions in the open water swimming community regarding the following:

• setting records and participation in professional marathon races, channel solo or relay crossings, ice swimming competitions, and among disabled para swimming events.
• giving of awards in the overall, age group, masters, and para swimming divisions in local, regional, national, and international open water swimming competitions
• participating in mixed team competitions with other men and women – where the mixed team relay rules require teams to consist of two men and two women
• elbowing, impeding, or committing unsportsmanlike conduct during an open water swimming competition, and impacting the podium position of the other competitors in the race 

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