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Updates on the Spring Nationals Eligibility Review - Main Thread

Kyle Deery

USMS is monitoring media reports, comments on these forums, and responding to member inquiries on the allegations regarding the eligibility of one of our members. We felt it might be helpful to provide updates in one place and this thread will serve that purpose.

Over the past week, USMS has received several formal eligibility review requests. In keeping with our published policy, the eligibility review panel was convened late last week to gather and assess the facts. Those with standing who have requested an eligibility review have been notified and will receive updates directly from the panel as appropriate. The panel will make a final determination based on the evidence presented. Speculation or commentary outside the review will not be part of the decision.

Many members have contacted us with questions and suggestions about our transgender eligibility policy. After the eligibility review is complete, USMS leadership and relevant committees will take time to reflect on member input and other details that emerge from the process to determine whether updates to the policy are appropriate and in line with USMS’s mission and values.

We ask for your patience as this process continues, and we thank you for being part of a community that values thoughtful and respectful dialogue, integrity, and the shared love of swimming. (5/9/2025)


6/3/25 Update

U.S. Masters Swimming’s Board of Directors and Rules Committee have initiated a review of USMS's transgender swimmer policy, which addresses the eligibility of transgender athletes to earn official times and other forms of recognition (places, records, and Top 10 rankings) at USMS events. USMS remains committed to ensuring members of all backgrounds feel welcome in our programs, while also recognizing the importance of fair competition in our events.

USMS will proceed thoughtfully and respectfully in evaluating the policy and will incorporate input received from members, applicable World Aquatics policies, and the various and rapidly changing state and local regulations that make creating a national policy complex.

The final policy will be communicated to members.

Furthermore, USMS is addressing two other related issues:

  • USMS has received requests to confirm the eligibility of two swimmers who competed at the 2025 Spring National Championship. The established review process is underway.
  • USMS has received a letter from the Texas Attorney General’s Office requesting documentation related to the 2025 Spring National Championship in San Antonio and is cooperating with the Texas Attorney General’s Office to respond accordingly.

We appreciate your patience and engagement as USMS works through these matters with care.

Sincerely,

Dawson Hughes, CEO of U.S. Masters Swimming, and Ed Coates, President of U.S. Masters Swimming


6/16/25 Update

On June 9, U.S. Masters Swimming's Board of Directors approved the adoption of an Interim Policy on Participation in the Male and Female Competition Category and Eligibility for Recognition Programs to replace the current Policy on Transgender Swimmer Inclusion. This interim policy was modeled after applicable portions of the World Aquatics Policy on the Eligibility for the Men's and Women's Competition Categories and will go into effect July 1. 

The board and Rules Committee developed the interim policy while weighing the feedback of USMS members. It reflects USMS’s commitment to inclusion, fairness, and the integrity of competition, values that have defined our organization throughout its 55-year history.

You can learn more about the interim policy on our FAQs page.

What the Interim Policy Does

  • Continues to allow all members to participate in the competition category that aligns with their gender identity
  • Establishes updated eligibility criteria for competitive recognition programs that include event rankings, Top 10, All-American status, and records
  • More closely aligns USMS with the applicable parts of the policy of World Aquatics, swimming’s international governing body that USMS a member of

Why Now?

We moved swiftly to thoughtfully develop this policy in response to our members’ concerns, as well as a recent inquiry from the Texas Attorney General’s Office. Please know that this decision was made with care, respect, and recognition of our members’ range of perspectives.

Creating a policy that balances our organizational values of inclusion and fairness of competition, the diverse range of our members’ perspectives, applicable World Aquatics policies, and various state and local regulations is challenging. We know this update will be welcomed by some and disappointing to others, but we feel this is the best decision to balance our organizational values and an evolving legal framework.  

What's Next?

There are still numerous operational issues to address as we work to finalize the interim policy in the coming months. This may include adjustments to member and event registration forms, updates to procedures, and providing guidance to administrators and officials. 

As USMS transitions from this interim policy to a permanent one, we’re committed to continuing to hear your feedback. Please refer to our FAQs page and email eligibility@usmastersswimming.org to share your perspective, suggestions, and any other questions you may have. 

Thank you for being a member of USMS. 

Sincerely,

Dawson Hughes, CEO, U.S. Masters Swimming
Ed Coates, President, U.S. Masters Swimming


7/18/25 Update

The Texas Office of the Attorney General notified U.S. Masters Swimming on May 19 that it was conducting an investigation into policies pertaining to transgender athlete participation in USMS competitions. USMS has been cooperating fully with the investigation and has been working with the Texas Office of the Attorney General to hopefully reach an agreement about the policy. USMS implemented an interim eligibility policy on July 1 in response to feedback from our members and the Attorney General's office and in line with our partnership with World Aquatics, which USMS is a member federation of.

USMS surprisingly learned yesterday via social media that the Texas Office of the Attorney General filed a lawsuit against USMS and the five LMSCs that operate in the State of Texas. USMS is currently reviewing the allegations. 

To be clear, under USMS’s policy (which aligns with World Aquatics policy), trans women are not eligible to receive records, Top 10 times, or awards in the women’s category at all USMS-sanctioned events, and trans men are eligible for those competitive recognition programs in the men's category. Moreover, trans women swimming in the women’s category do not displace other women from participating or receiving recognition in any USMS event. USMS policies referenced have been publicly posted on our website since 2012 and are outlined in our annually published Code of Regulations. More information about USMS’s interim eligibility policy can be found in our FAQs.

USMS is a national nonprofit community of adult swimmers focused on health and fitness. It is deeply disappointing to see our organization and individual members publicly targeted in a lawsuit that appears to be more about generating headlines than seeking justice. 

USMS will continue to cooperate fully with the Texas Office of the Attorney General and to uphold the values that have guided our community for more than 50 years.

For further updates, you can come back to this thread. Due to the ongoing nature of this lawsuit, USMS will not respond to individual questions.

Sincerely,

Dawson Hughes, CEO, U.S. Master Swimming
Ed Coates, President, U.S. Masters Swimming



8/22/25 Update

Under U.S. Masters Swimming’s Policy on Transgender Swimmer Inclusion that was in effect until July 1, 2025, swimmers in the same gender category, same age group, and having participated in the same event during the same season may request an eligibility review of another swimmer at any time before the times submission deadline for that season. Pursuant to this policy, an Eligibility Review Panel reviewed an eligibility determination request regarding another swimmer’s eligibility for official forms of recognition at USMS events.

Under the USMS Eligibility Review Procedures in place until July 1, 2025, the swimmer whose eligibility was challenged submitted documentation to the Eligibility Review Panel regarding her eligibility to participate in the female competition category and for official forms of recognition, including documentation reflecting her sex assigned at birth and her gender identity, including a birth certificate, passport, and U.S. citizenship documents. The Eligibility Review Panel also met with the swimmer and her counsel and reviewed a personal statement she submitted. The documents the swimmer submitted all demonstrate that she was assigned the female sex at birth and that she identifies as female, although she swam in the male category at USMS events 2002-2004. Even though it was not required, the swimmer voluntarily provided past and current medical documentation corroborating the information contained in the documents she submitted and corroborating her eligibility in the female category.

The Eligibility Review Panel concluded that the evidence submitted by the swimmer demonstrates that she was eligible for competition in the female category.

For clarity:

  • The USMS Policy on Transgender Swimmer Inclusion and review procedures that were in effect at the time of this protest were materially different than the World Aquatics Policy on Eligibility.
  • World Aquatics Policy instructs ‘Member Federations (e.g., U.S. Masters Swimming) to adopt its own sex and gender policy ... that respects the inclusion of all Aquatics athletes’ and ‘recommends that organizers of recreational (non-competitive or non-elite) Aquatics events consider their local circumstances and goals in their determination of whether or not separate sex competition is necessary for them’.
  • The USMS interim eligibility policy effective July 1, 2025, only allows for recognition in the female competition category based on sex assigned at birth, but allows for participation in the female category (as defined in the policy) based on gender identity.
  • USMS has recently updated its membership registration process to ensure the integrity of the interim eligibility policy.

We appreciate our members’ patience during this thorough review process as the complexities of the matter were exacerbated by the outside legal and media attention received. USMS also wants to encourage our members to treat each other with dignity, kindness, and respect as outlined in the USMS code of conduct.

This concludes the Eligibility Review Panel’s review. 

  • in reply to 01XSB

     the graphic you are showing demonstrates the difference between the old USMS policy and new policy (it does not involve the World Aquatics policy). 
    In the new policy, trans women can participate in events in the women's category but cannot receive recognition. What you have circled is visually showing what I described in the last sentence (the difference between participation and recognition in the old vs. new policy). 

    Our swimsuits not lawsuits page addresses why we are using birth certificates. 

    "Self-certification of sex assigned at birth is the most accurate and cost-effective method for our organization. We use the same standard for verification of age and gender as local running races and pickleball leagues. We don’t want to require our members to submit to invasive medical testing just to be able to compete."

  • in reply to Kyle Deery

    I understand the graph, I was just highlighting the contradiction between the 2 lines...

    On one side you satisfy the people that want fairness in sports by not having transgenders eligible for awards and on the other hand you allow a swimmer who competed as a man in 2000-2004 to present a birth certificate identifying him as a women in 2025 granting him the records

    I am sorry but self certification is a loop hole that has just been and will continue to be exploited.

    You can change these 2 clauses to match FINA's policy and provide a level playing field for women while maintaining all the inclusivity USMS aspires to

  • There is a current article in JAMA 

    The Return to Genetic Testing in Women’s Sport—Repeating History Without Evidence

    I can't attach the article without the author's permission, but in a very scholarly manner it described why it is not good science to use this with "differences of sexual development" individuals. This is not an article about transgender, but rather people were assigned female at birth and identify as female and their biological differences. Basically that being XY is not prima facie evidence of athletic advantage. As an example there are people identified and identifying as female who are XY but have androgen receptor insensitivites.



  • I have been waiting to see if USMS will send out an update to members on the recent World Aquatics ruling. As of 10/24/25 there has been no response from USMS on World Aquatics findings on a USMS member athlete.

    The only interaction has been sent to volunteers and not USMS paying members.

    My questions are as follows….

    1. Does USMS intend to hold up the suspension on the athlete?

    2. Will USMS go back and vacate wins and top time standards that this athlete has in the record books?

    I applaud World Aquatics for making a stand. I look forward to USMS response.

  • in reply to GAM2N

    I second 2UDDK that again, you do NOT speak for all women. Plus you're assuming that ALL people/women, whether assigned female at birth or otherwise born with an uterus, is capable of having a baby, menstruation, or even menopause. Let's not use women's rights and struggles (and when I say women, I mean BOTH cis women and trans women) as a pretext to spread hateful rhetoric and misinformation. USMS is about supporting each other, both in and out of the pool/open water, promoting diversity, and developing friendships based on our shared passion for swimming. Let's get back to that.

  • in reply to 0AUS0

    What's with the weird obsession about what other swimmer's genitals look like? Who cares? Let's just swim!

  • in reply to 04NK1

    I'm sorry I missed your post! I just found and read the editorial. What an excellent and informative read! I'm sending you a message to connect.

  • in reply to sircornman

    I second this. It isn't only gender diverse people who aren't safe in Texas, but also cis women like me as well as anyone born with or otherwise possessing an uterus. Anyone who claims to support women's rights should agree with avoiding Texas and other states hostile to women, including Florida.

  • in reply to VGKNB

    Are you a woman (cis or trans) or do you possess an uterus? Are you supportive of reproductive rights including women's rights to make their own medical decisions including abortion and D&C procedures? If not, then you have no horse in the race (regardless of whether you have a sister, wife, daughter, ad nauseum), so please don't pretend to support women's rights as an excuse for transphobia. No wrong was done, so there's nothing to fix.

  • in reply to 06Z81

    I am sure you love your child very much and want them to be happy. Might I suggest you consider talking with your child about the reason(s) why they detransitioned, if only to make sure it was their own independent decision. To be clear, I'm not saying your child is transgender or otherwise gender diverse; I only make this suggestion because multiple studies and surveys have concluded that while the detransition rate is vanishingly low, the primary reason for detransition was due to family/society pressure and a lack of support, which resulted in a higher risk of suicide. https://open.substack.com/pub/erininthemorn/p/largest-trans-survey-ever-top-reason

    Largest survey of transgender people ever done in the United States: https://ustranssurvey.org

    "Over 84,000 trans, nonbinary and gender nonconforming people aged 18 and up responded to the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey, spearheaded by Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE). Of respondents who had transitioned, 9% had gone back to living as their sex assigned at birth at some point in their lives, at least for a short while—but in almost every single case, the reason was anti-trans discrimination from one’s family, friends, or community.

    'Social and structural explanations dominated the reasons why respondents reported going back to living in their sex assigned at birth at some point,' the report found. 'Only 4% of people who went back to living in their sex assigned at birth for a while cited that their reason was because they realized that gender transition was not for them. When considering all respondents who had transitioned, this number equates to only 0.36%.'”