US swimming authorities to let athletes choose to compete as male or female

[TerfedOff]

www.rt.com/sport/440416-us-swimming-transgender-category/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Transgender athletes will be able to compete in their chosen category even if someone files a protest refuting their status.

Oh for goodness sake we mustn't let this happen in our country this is just such a nonsense and so unfair to women.

The choices of men exalted over the realities of women.

The male supremacy of it isn't even covert any more.

Bye bye women's sport.

And the authorities, governments et al are perfectly happy to see the destruction of women's sport.

It's almost like deep misogyny is driving this.

The added problem is that swim and coach time is precious, and elite swimmers need to train a lot. Even in larger clubs it is only the top couple of squads who would get sufficient time to be competitive at regional or national level. And Clubs are required (a trickle down via Swim 21 certification from the Equalities Act) to have clear criteria, usually based on times, for qualification to those top squads. So say you had a top squad of 20 half of whom are girls. Two trans-girls and girls have lost 20% of their opportunity, whilst transboys have lost all of theirs. And could be more pronounced than that as from about he age of 13 the kids wanting to take the sport seriously will gravitate towards the best clubs and coaches. So if you had four or five trans boy swimmers in West London, it is very possible they would all be in the same club/squad. And they don't need to be that good to be better than the girls.

(Plus lots of school pools are used, some with limited or no private cubicles.)

Indeed. Swimming's not a sport where physical build as a result of being male makes any difference at all, is it...?

Plus the changing room implications.

Argh so stupid and annoying.

My girls are just in the process of joining a swim team. Obvious differences. This makes me so sad.

We have mixed changing rooms anyway though with individual cubicles and lockers. But competin g there's obvious differences...

Huge difference

“to support a sport culture of inclusion and diversity, while assuring a fair competitive environment.”

OMG. How can anyone suck their cheeks in and talk about a fair competitive environment? How the hell have so many people lost all power of critical thinking?
What will it take to dismantle this? I read stuff like this and such a red mist descends I lose the power of speech.

If you don't cry you have to laugh ... what will they be wearing? I'm going to spend my old age being the little boy who points and laughs.

It outlines the rights of transgender athletes, and states that swimmers can choose male or female gender identity “to support a sport culture of inclusion and diversity, while assuring a fair competitive environment.”

How exactly does this move assure a 'fair competitive environment' for girls?

Silly me. It means an inclusive, diverse, fair competitive environment for males. That's the only possible meaning. Fan bloody tastic.

I'm going to spend my old age being the little boy who points and laughs.

Ironically, you can of course be exactly that if you wish.

I expect the hormones shrink their feet. A couple of lady hormone tablets would probably have got Ian Thorpe into a nice pair of size 5 court shoes from Clarks.

Errol

How does this work in international competitions like the Olympics though? If a USA trans person qualifies for their Olympic team what happens then? Which category do they enter?

assuring a fair competitive environment.

Say what?? There's a reason men and women don't compete in the same races now. Just because a man says he feels like a woman changes nothing - and even if his testosterone levels are low enough to compete - he still has the same body, muscles, bigger heart and competitive advantage.

The world is going nuts. Can nobody use their brain and actually think critically about this?

Bonkers

This is the main area my DD concedes at the moment in relation to TWAW, so hopefully it will peak a few more people (whilst it being shit for the girls involved )

If a USA trans person qualifies for their Olympic team what happens then? Which category do they enter?

Afaik a male trans athlete would have to get his testosterone below the defined limit (ie about 4 times higher than female levels, as decreed by an IOC committee consisting of 3 XX people and 9 XY people , iirc, someone correct me if I'm wrong). He'd then qualify and enter in the women's competition.

If a female trans athlete qualifies for a USA Olympic team (other than equestrian which isn't sex segregated because the rider provides the brain and the horse provides the body, more or less) ... I'd take cover for fear of being shat on by a flying pig tbh.

Well here we are, my absolute benchmark for fucking ridiculous. Everything else has been gradually raising my blood pressure but as the mother of a competitive female swimmer, this has been the one I've been expecting and dreading for a while.

From the age of 8 the qualifying times for county swimming has been faster for boys than girls. I have a friend whose child transitioned at 7. I always said I supported her right to live as a girl but she should never be able to swim competitively against my daughter (she wouldn't, she's not sporty, but it was the example I gave).

Even if they take hormone blockers in their teens, they have already had several years advantage at the outset of their swimming career, which will drive girls out of the sport.

I genuinely hoped that this was so obviously wrong (the qualification times alone make it so fucking obvious what the problem is), that it wouldn't happen. What an idiot.

Poor transboys. There are a lot more of them. Swimming is a good sport for those who are not very socially assured, as it is individual and the repetitiveness of the training is calming. Plus a chance to socialise with others from different schools in the changing room and at galas. It can then be a real escape from the shopping mall/party pressure of the cool group at school. Training is so demanding that you just don't have time to worry about whether you are invited or not. on the other hand swimmers will know other swimmers in different school year groups, as they are the ones who head to the library at lunchtime to do homework, because their evenings are taken up with training.

So a good thing for girls who are unsure of their gender/sexuality, as long as they can compete against those with similar bodies.

(FWIW DD did a lot of sport because she is dyslexic, and at around 10/11 it became very important that she had something she was good at. I remember at least a couple of boys, not unlike Michael Phelps, whose parents encouraged them to swim because they were hyperactive.)

I'd take cover for fear of being shat on by a flying pig tbh
All my laughs today coming from Errol
Thanks. We need it. If this comes in my first act on retirement will be to get that little boy status in writing and a shiny new birth certificate to prove it. Will they make me go to school I wonder?

Can you imagine the reception that a male infiltrating a female team is going to receive when competing? Brave? Stunning? I don't think so. Sadly for girls and women, it is going to this bonkers sort of thing to happen for the message to sink in.

Just a quick word of caution - the link in OP is to RT (formerly known as Russia Today) who have form for flat out lying in order to stir trouble over what they perceive to be hot button topics in the West. (See, for example, the non-existent siege of Incirlik airbase they reported after the failed Turkish coup attempt a couple of years ago.)

I would take this with a pinch of salt - the actual guidelines may be more nuanced (then again they may not be -Andraya Yarwood, anyone?) I'd like to see this from a reputable mainstream US news site.