Olympic gold medalist applauds FINA's new transgender swimming policy: 'Very definitive'

Donna de Varona reacts to the world governing body for swimming restricting transgender swimmers from women's events on 'America Reports.'

Former Olympic gold medalist and Title IX advocate Donna de Varona applauded FINA, swimming’s international governing body, for approving a new policy that would limit the participation of transgender women from competing in high-level women's swimming events.

"I’m very proud of FINA for spending months and months and months talking to researchers, looking at science-based peer review research on the impact of puberty on male bodies and what impact that would have if you are trying to mitigate your high testosterone and if you could ever do that," the 1964 Olympic gold medalist in swimming, told "America Reports" on Monday.

Penn transgender swimmer Lia Thomas speaks to her coach after winning the 500 meter freestyle during an NCAA college swimming meet with Harvard Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022, at at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.  (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

FINA announced its new "gender inclusion policy" on Sunday that only permits swimmers who transitioned before the age of 12 to compete in women’s events. There was also a proposal for a new "open competition policy." The organization said it was setting up "a new working group that will spend the next six months looking at the most effective ways to set up this new category."

The policy comes after University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas made headlines for dominating on women’s teams as a transgender athlete, raising questions of fairness as scientists determined that transgender women athletes who went through typical male puberty during adolescence still hold a competitive edge over their biologically female competitors.