FINA official hopes other sports follow transgender ruling

MELBOURNE: FINA's decision to restrict transgender athletes in elite women's swimming has provided a blueprint for other sports to follow in balancing fairness with inclusion, a top medical official at the global governing body said.

FINA made the decision on Sunday (Jun 19) after its members heard a report from a transgender task force comprising leading medical, legal and sports figures.

David Gerrard, vice chairman of FINA's Sports Medicine Committee, said it was "the best outcome" for the sport and its athletes, and was backed by robust process.

"To my mind, FINA’s approach to this was very enlightened, it was very balanced, it was informed," New Zealander Gerrard, a former Olympic swimmer, told Reuters on Monday.

"It recognised the athlete’s voice, the scientific, objective evidence and the somewhat more subjective, human rights (and) legal issues which were argued very forcefully by the lawyers present.

"I hope that that model is something that's considered by other sports."

Advocates for transgender inclusion argue that not enough studies have yet been done on the impact of transition on physical performance, and that elite athletes are often physical outliers in any case.

Equality Australia called on FINA to place its new "trans-exclusionary policy" under review and said the decision would "effectively exclude most trans women from competing at an elite level in a sport they love".

In FINA's updated policy, male-to-female transgender athletes are eligible to compete 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".

Gerrard said FINA had ample evidence to back its decision, citing experts at Sunday's congress who