Swimming's world governing body FINA has voted to restrict the participation of transgender athletes in elite women's competitions.
Pennsylvania Quakers swimmer Lia Thomas looks towards Virginia Cavaliers swimmer Emma Weyant before the 500 free final at the NCAA Womens Swimming & Diving Championships at Georgia Tech in Atlanta on 17 March, 2022.Swimming's world governing body FINA on Sunday voted to restrict the participation of transgender athletes in elite women's competitions and create a working group to establish an "open" category for them in some events as part of its new policy.
The debate intensified after University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas became the first transgender NCAA champion in Division I history after winning the women's 500-yard freestyle earlier this year.Ms Thomas has expressed a desire to compete for a place at the Olympics but the new FINA rule would block her participation.
The policy was passed with a roughly 71 per cent majority after it was put to the members of 152 national federations with voting rights who had gathered for the congress at the Puskas Arena. “FINA will always welcome every athlete. The creation of an open category will mean that everybody has the opportunity to compete at an elite level. This has not been done before, so FINA will need to lead the way. I want all athletes to feel included in being able to develop ideas during this process.”
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