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Swim England prioritizes fair competition with new transgender policy

Swim England, the country's governing organization for swimming, has introduced a new transgender policy.

By Abhiruchi Rout | Apr 4, 2023 | 3 Min Read

Swim England, the country’s governing organization for swimming, has introduced a new transgender policy featuring open and female divisions for all of its approved events, stressing that fair competition must be at the center of its strategy. Athletes who are male by birth sex, transgender, or non-binary must compete in the new open category for all Swim England-licensed events, while female competitors will compete in a separate protected category. Any swimming, artistic swimming, diving, and water polo events where times and competitiveness are taken into consideration will be subject to this adjustment.

The revised policy was developed following consultation with approximately 2,000 members, stakeholders, and advocacy groups. Swim England has rejected a restriction on transgender women competing in female sports, in contrast to the International Swimming Organization. The regulation permits athletes to self-identify in low-level unlicensed events, like intra-club recreational races, but the timings and scores submitted at these events will not be relevant to Swim England rankings or eligible as records.

What Swim England’s head of diversity and inclusion Mike Hawkes had to say

Swim England’s head of diversity and inclusion, Mike Hawkes, said that the new rule permits a two-tier strategy that will protect the integrity of competition while also making sure the sport is as inclusive as possible. “As a result of the strength of feeling displayed via our independent consultation, we recognize that fair competition is considered the backbone of our aquatic sports and therefore must be prioritized. We do believe, however, that any measures put in place should be minimally obstructive and only go as far as is necessary to maintain sporting integrity across our competition and talent pathways,” Mike Hawkes said.

While some have praised the regulation as a move towards more inclusive sporting practices, others have criticized it for not going far enough. Hawkes admitted that the approach would be criticized from all sides of the debate. He stated, “This isn’t something we’ve done over weeks. But there will be questions, and there will be blowback because it is probably the most contentious and emotive topic in sport at the moment.”

How will Swim England’s decision impact?

Swim England‘s decision not to outright prohibit transgender women from female sports contrasts with World Aquatics‘ decision last year to outright exclude transgender women from the female category. Hawkes stated that Swim England opted against a total ban because it intended to allow for grassroots inclusion up to the greatest level possible, at which time competition integrity would take precedence. Nonetheless, there are still fears that transgender athletes will have an influence on cisgender athletes’ abilities to advance up the talent pool financially.

Due to safety concerns, the policy also prohibits transgender women from playing recreational water polo alongside female players at the senior level. Hawkes noted that the revised policy was in line with advice given by the Sports Councils Equality Group in September 2021, which stated that there was no ideal solution that would reconcile the inclusion of trans women in female sports with the assurance of competitive fairness and safety and encouraged sports to select one over the other.