US NCAA swim controversy

“People who have gone through testosterone-driven puberty have, on average, more cardiovascular capacity, greater muscle mass, higher tendon mechanical strength, and denser bones. They tend to be stronger and taller, with longer wingspans. In many sports involving timed races, men are roughly 10 to 12 percent faster than women.” – Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, March 17, 2022

On March 17, Lia Thomas, formerly Will Thomas, became the first transgender athlete to win a US NCAA swimming championship, beating two female Olympic silver medalists in Atlanta. In the 500-yard freestyle event, Thomas, once one of the best male collegiate swimmers in Texas, defeated Emma Weyant by a full second and a half. 2020 Olympic silver medalist Erica Sullivan placed third. Photos of Thomas towering head and shoulders over her rivals at the podium stirred the controversy even more. Even 1976 Olympic decathlon gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner (formerly Bruce Jenner) spoke out against the achievement.

“Emma (Weyant) is the rightful winner! It’s not transphobic or anti trans, it’s COMMON SENSE!” Jenner said on Twitter.

“I don’t think biological boys should compete in women’s sports. We have to protect women’s sports,” Jenner added in an interview. “That’s the bottom line.”

Florida governor Ron DeSantis concurred with Jenner, defending his constituent Weyant.

Ranked in between 450 and 500 in the world in men’s swimming, Thomas began hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in 2019. This causes changes in a person’s secondary sex characteristics, and lessens muscle mass and strength. The US NCAA and the Olympics allow trans women to enter women’s events once they’ve been on HRT for a certain period of time, and as long as tests show their testosterone is below certain levels. Thomas also took testosterone suppressants as part of her medical transition. US TV network NBC, meanwhile, took heat for showing an airbrushed photo of Thomas in the pool, in an attempt to make her look more feminine and blur her adam’s apple.

Miriam Cates, a Member of Parliament (MP) in the UK, argues that “Biologically, you cannot change sex. In every cell in your body, you have sex chromosomes. You can’t change them. That is a biological fact. You can tell children that some people believe that you can have a different gender than when you’re born, but you can’t teach that as fact.”

Scientifically, records show that trans women do not dominate professional sports, and win in amateur competitions but do not break records. However, HRT does not take away all of the physical advantages of having been a biological male and going through male puberty. Height, width of shoulders, length of limbs and muscles, and other advantages will remain. There is also the social question of why an individual’s choice is being protected to the detriment of others who did not make that same choice. It has become an imposition in the eyes of others.

In the next few years, there will be a stronger dichotomy between sports associations that will allow trans athletes, and those that won’t. There are not yet enough of them to warrant separate category, which may be the solution most people will accept.