There is arguably (undoubtedly from my perspective) no other sport in the world where men and women are so evenly matched as open water swimming, especially in the disciplines of channel swimming, marathon swimming, and ice swimming.

The female icons of the sport of open water swimming are renowned in the record books, documentary films, media articles – around the world and throughout the history of the sport.

From Gertrude Ederle in the 1920’s to Sarah Thomas in contemporary times, women have always been at the forefront of the sport. The female open water athletes have not only swum further, faster and colder in many cases (e.g., Lynne Cox and Jaimie Monahan), but they have also garnered more sponsorships (e.g., Keri-Anne Payne in Great Britain and Ana Marcela Cunha in Brazil) and greater media attention (e.g., Natalie du Toit in South Africa, Chloë McCardal in Australia, and Diana Nyad in the USA). Unlike all ball sports (e.g., soccer, football, and basketball) and other extreme sports (e.g., ultra running, triathlon, and cycling), the male and female professional marathon swimmers went head-to-head for generations. Women like Greta Andersen and Judith van Berkel-de Nijs always lined up against the best men of their era – and occasionally beat them to the finish. It was only until the year 1991 when Shelley Taylor-Smith out-pointed all the men on the professional marathon swimming circuit when prize money was evenly split the next year. But even in contemporary times, fast women like Arianna Bridi and Ana Marcela Cunha finished 1st and 2nd overall in the 36 km Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli in 6 hours 4 minutes, breaking the overall (male + female) course record in the historic race that has been held since 1954 – the longest running professional marathon swimming competitions in the world.

But even beyond the fastest echelon of swimmers, when we delve into the community of amateur swimmers, female swimmers fare extremely well, comparatively, against their male counterparts, especially in contemporary times. According to the data analyzed by International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame inductee Julian Critchlow, 86% of women have successfully crossed the English Channel since 2014 compared to 79% of men who have succeeded (over a sample size of 710 crossings). Additionally, women are, on average, 5 years younger and 10 minutes faster than their male counterparts.

However, top men are nearly always faster than the top women – judging from (1) the fastest English Channel crossings in history, (2) FINA professional marathon races, and (3) the fastest Ice Kilometers in history. German Andreas Waschburger swam across the English Channel in 6 hours 45 minutes in 2023 versus Yvetta Hlaváčová from the Czech Republic who swam across in 7 hours 25 minutes in 2006.

Judging from several dozens of 10 km FINA professional marathon races held over a 5-year span, the fastest three men were, on average, 7 minutes faster than the top three women at these same races on the same course held on the same day, often at the same time. Similarly, the Top 10 Ice Miles in history (by pace per mile) are dominated by men – outside of #6 Ines Hahn and #7 Julia Wittig:

1. Marcin Szarpak 19:27
2. James Bridges 19:45
3. Rostislav Vítek 20:29
4. Fergil Hesterman 20:40
5. Christof Wandratsch 21:25
6. Ines Hahn 21:33
7. Julia Wittig 21:33
8. Benjamin Freeman 22:08
9. James Leitch 22:16
10. Philip Emslie 22:3

The fastest 3 Ice Kilometers in history are also held by men – but the top women just a bit behind:

1. Marcin Szarpak (22) 11:31.53 versus Alisa Fatum (28) 12:46.04
2. Andreas Waschburger (37) 11:38.79 versus Hanna Bakuniak (27) 13:05.70
3. Axel Reymond (29) 11:49.40 versus Ciara Doran (23) 13:06.39

So from various perspectives, the sport of open water swimming seems to be very equitably balanced between males and females.

But will transgender athletes – specifically transgender women – who compete in the women’s categories upset this traditional sense of division in the open water swimming world? What will be accepted at local, national, and international competitions and in the record books?

It depends who you talk with.

In the United States, University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I race at the 2022 championships. Within her university team, NCAA community of schools, parents and fans, and the American swimming community in general, Thomas participation in the NCAA swimming season – and her ultimate victory – brought the debate of transgenderism in sports to the fore – and Thomas had supporters and faced detractors.

While other transgender athletes (of both genders) compete, it was the victory and standing on top of the NCAA Championship awards podium that really struck a nerve with many supporters and detractors.

One of those women who Thomas beat was Riley Gaines, a senior from the University of Kentucky [shown above], who finished fifth in the finals (watch 500-yard freestyle race here). Gaines has become a vocal and visible political activist who advocates against the inclusion of trans women competing in women’s division of sports, traveling across the country to lobby for laws that would prohibit transgender women from women’s sports. Conversely, one of the women who finished third in that same 500-yard race, open water swimmer and Olympic silver medalist Erica Sullivan expressed empathy for Thomas. Sullivan told Swimming World Magazine, “She’s getting hate from all sides. All I can think for her right now is that sucks for her because that has got to mess you up at night. That’s got to hurt as a human being,” Sullivan said. “I just feel bad for her. She doesn’t deserve what she’s getting.”

Gaines, a 12-time All-American swimmer and Independent Women’s Forum ambassador, took part in the “We Won’t Back Down” rally at the NCAA Convention in Phoenix, Arizona this week. The women demanded equal athletic opportunities for women during the rally. Gaines was joined by Paula Scanlan, a University of Pennsylvania swimmer, Kylee Alons, a 31-time All-American swimmer and 2-time NCAA national champion at North Carolina State University, Nancy Hogshead, a 3-time Olympic swimming gold medalist and the CEO of Champion Women, Marshi Smith, a NCAA swimming champion from the University of Arizona, Annie Chandler Grevers, NCAA swimming champion and World University Games gold medalist, Lacy Nymeyer Jon, an Olympic swimming silver medalist and NCAA champion from the University of Arizona. and other athletes, parents, coaches, and officials from the sports of soccer, golf, lacrosse, volleyball, cross-country and track, and basketball.

The women and their supporters want the NCAA to revoke its Transgender Student-Athlete Participation Policy. The policy allows males who identify as women to participate in women’s sports if they suppress their natural testosterone for at least one year and achieve levels set by the governing bodies of their particular sport. A comprehensive review of the scientific literature show that hormone injections do not eliminate the male athletic advantage over females. The report also concludes that, even without any male athletic advantage, the participation of males in women’s sports takes away opportunities for women to compete. 

But NCAA President Charlie Baker has refused to meet with the women or hear how allowing men in women’s sports hurts women.

Baker’s position is difficult to understand for competitive athletics is a zero-sum game. For every transgender athlete who wins a race, sets a record, earns a coveted spot on the school’s travel team, earns a full or partial athletic scholarship, is offered a spot on the varsity team, has the privilege to wear a school/team uniform, swimsuit, or swim cap, there is a woman who misses out on these opportunities.

Gaines reasons, “Female athletes work our entire lives to compete in sports, only to have the NCAA destroy our even playing field. This devalues female athletes and women in general. Sex-based categories are important for competitive sports just like age classifications and weight categories. We are asking very little of the NCAA. Maintain the fairness necessary for competition and safety.”

Hogshead has been spearheading efforts to help establish greater opportunities for women in sport for decades. Her work at Champion Women is a long-fought legal advocacy to help girls and women in sports. Her positions in contrast to Baker are strong, “The NCAA has a history of sex discrimination. They backtracked on their promise to hold schools accountable for gender equity, even though equality remains in their bylaws. They will not hold their member schools accountable when a school recruits men that have been expelled for sexual misconduct against women, and now they won’t eliminate a discriminatory policy that allows males to take athletic opportunities from females. Shame on Charlie Baker for caring more about NIL and conference realignment.”

So what will happen in the open water swimming community when a transgender women…

• sets a women’s record across the English Channel – or any channel crossing or marathon swim around the world?
• wins the women’s division (overall, age group, or masters) in an amateur or professional open water swimming competition (whether local, regional, national, or international)?
• takes part of a record-setting or winning women’s relay in a channel crossing or an open water swimming competition?
• participates on a mixed team competition with 2 other men and another woman – where the mixed team relay rules state the teams shall consist of two men and two women?
• elbows, impedes, or commits an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty during an open water swimming competition, impacting the podium position of the other women in the race?

In the channel swimming communities, the appropriate governing bodies (e.g., Catalina Channel Swimming Federation, Channel Swimming Association, ACNEG, Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation) will have to make a decision and determination of these answers.

Swim England has a policy that states, “In order for all aquatic disciplines to be enjoyed as sport, there must be inclusive opportunities for transgender participants to compete. However, it is widely recognised that fairness of competition must be protected and Swim England believes the creation of open and female categories is the best way to achieve this.        

Whilst Swim England’s existing policy regarding the use of hormonal therapy was found to be effective at reducing performance advantage, it was insufficient to negate it completely and trans females therefore likely retain an advantage over their cisgender peers.”

Swim England published its findings that 86% of its 2,000 respondents thought that fair competition must be protected within aquatics, and that 74% believed that female and open categories would be the best way to achieve this.

But in the world of sport, the debate continues.

In professional marathon swimming competitions and at the Olympics, either World Aquatics or the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will have to make a decision and determination of these answers.

After the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, the IOC has adopted a new framework (read here). In contrast to Swim England’s policy, the IOC position is that it is no longer assumed that transgender women have an automatic advantage over cis women. On the other hand, World Aquatics adopted a new gender inclusion policy as of 2022 that dictated that transgender females can only compete in the women’s racs if they transition before the age of 12 or before they reach stage two on the puberty Tanner Scale. This policy was adopted after 71.5% of the 152 member federations voted in its favor.

While over 300 current and former pool swimmers signed their names to an open letter defending Lea Thomas’ ability to compete at the NCAA competitions, it is unknown how many swimmers were not supportive of the NCAA allowance of her participation or the NCAA’s current position on transgender women competing in women’s sports.

Where will the open water swimming community ultimately fall in this debate? How will the various race organizers come to a decision and determine these issues?

Swimmers love to swim. They have to – they must have a deep passion to spend hours and hours swimming kilometers after kilometers, month after month, year after year. As Thomas told Sports Illustrated Magazine, “I’ve always viewed myself as just a swimmer. It’s what I’ve done for so long; it’s what I love.. I get into the water every day and do my best.” The Sports Illustrated article added that Thomas insists that she is not thinking about wins or records. At the same time, Thomas wanted to finish a race, look up at a timing board, and see her name next to the names of other women.

While training to reach her full potential and enjoying the sport of swimming is perfectly acceptable – and admirable, it is the competition part of the sport – racing against others who do not have similar physiological benefits, muscularly and cardiovascularly, is unfair – and is certainly untraditional.

In a zero-sum sport like competitive swimming, there will be one winner who stands on top of the awards podium, and everyone else.

World Aquatics worked to created an open category for transgender and non-binary swimmers; races to be independent of the traditional male and female divisions. While that new category offering seemed to offer a welcomed opportunity for all transgender athletes, the open category of the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Berlin to be held in October 2023 was cancelled – because no swimmers (transgender men, transgender women, or non-binary swimmers) had signed up to compete in any of the events.

Why was this opportunity not taken up with interested swimmers?

There could be a wide variety of reasons.

• Was there no interest?
• Were they potentially overwhelmed or embarrassed with the potential media focus?
• Were they worried about possible backlash?
• Did they receive no support from their federations?
• Did they not want to be pioneers in this new category?
• Did they not want to pay their own way to compete in Berlin?
• Were too many questions still unanswered?
• Did they feel that somehow the categories were poorly defined?
• Were the event offerings (50m and 100m in butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle) too limited?
• Did they feel like this competition did not allow them to be their authentic selves?

It is unknown, or perhaps unreported, but no athletes among World Aquatics’ 152 member federations took up this opportunity to compete and win a World Cup race. However, World Aquatics established a open category working group that “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 [swimming] events in the future.”

If masters swimming events offer an open category for transgender and non-binary swimmers, then this appears to be one step closer to doing the same for the open water swimming community.

What do you think? What do you recommend? Where do you fall in this debate?

• If a transgender women sets a record for women across the English Channel or any channel crossing or marathon swim around the world, what would you decide?
• If a transgender women wins the women’s division (overall, age group, or masters) in an amateur or professional open water swimming competitions?
• takes part of a record-setting or winning women’s relay in a channel crossing or an open water swimming competition?
• participates on a mixed team competition with 2 other men and another woman – where the mixed team relay rules state the teams shall consist of two men and two women?
• elbows, impedes, or commits an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty during an open water swimming competition, impacting the podium position of the other women in the race?

At some point in the future, these questions will need to be addressed by decision-makers in the open water swimming world.

But I am also reminded of the historic legal case of International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame Honor Swimmer Sandra Bucha. Donna Lopiano, Ph.D., former president of the Women’s Sport Foundation, writes of Bucha, “Between 1973 and 1975, Sandra was the female winner in the nine professional marathon races she entered. At that time, marathon swimming was a single gender sport. During her professional marathon swimming career, no female was able to challenge her title as the #1 marathon swimmer in the world. Only three males finished ahead of her in her nine marathon races. 

As a principal in a successful lawsuit brought against the Illinois High School Association, this legal action resulted in the initiation of girls’ sports programs and state interscholastic championships for girls in the State of Illinois. Her actions as a social justice advocate affected the opportunities of thousands of girls to participate in swimming and other sports. The energy and enthusiasm she brought to her swimming career and initial social justice efforts continued as she graduated from Stanford University with honors as an undergraduate and earned her Doctor of Law degree at Indiana University. Her career as a champion athlete and record as a conscientious citizen have been exemplary.”

Bucha’s successful lawsuit also helped influence United States Federal Government legislation that lead to Title IX which subsequently resulted in a massive increase in female sports participation, funding, and opportunities at the high school, university, and Olympics levels. Bucha ultimately was one of the unsung and largely unknown leaders of social revolution. Female athletics – on an ongoing upward trajectory – has not faced a major threat in the United States until the transgender movement has allowed (encouraged) biologically-born males to compete against women. The push and desire to include the few transgender athletes potentially threatens the continued growth of female sports opportunities and athletic participation.

Photos courtesy of credit Independent Women’s Forum.

© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

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