We’ve always believed that swimming has the power to change lives. That belief fuels our mission to empower adults to improve their lives through swimming.
But in recent weeks, USMS has come under scrutiny from politicians, state officials, and other outside organizations over competition eligibility policies. They don’t understand who we are and what we do. And we need your help setting the record straight as part of our newly launched #SwimsuitsNotLawsuits campaign.
The Background
This situation began with rumors about one member’s performance at our Spring Nationals in April in San Antonio. An external organization fueled online speculation about this swimmer’s eligibility, which led to protests from fellow members and an investigation by the Attorney General in Texas.
After hearing from members, discussions with the Texas Office of the Attorney General, and other external stakeholders, we adopted an interim eligibility policy. The policy clarifies participation and recognition criteria in a way that reflects our mission, our values, and operational considerations specific to Masters Swimming.
Even after announcing the changes, the Florida Attorney General is asking us to further restrict eligibility. And despite everything we did, we still got sued by the Texas Attorney General.
Here’s How You Can Help
- Read the facts below. We address some of the speculation and inaccuracies here but also encourage you to read the interim eligibility policy and the FAQs page to get the facts.
- Share correct information when you see or hear inaccurate statements. Please help us by providing facts in response, whether it’s on social media, at the pool, or in your local community. Your voice matters.
- Let others know what’s great about our organization. In the coming days, we’ll post on social media to address speculation and misleading statements. We’d like you to share those and/or comment how USMS has positively impacted your life, whether you learned to swim through an adult learn-to-swim program, you enjoy swimming every day with a special group of lanemates, or you achieved your goal at an event. Tag us in your own social media posts and use the hashtag #SwimsuitsNotLawsuits. Help others see what makes USMS great: you.
Here Are the Facts That We Need Your Help Clearing Up
- Our organization is only for adults — not kids. Every one of you is 18 or older, and our policies don’t affect youth or scholastic competitions.
- Men and women swim together every day — and it’s not unsafe. Across the country every day, men and women complete workouts in the same lanes as each other, and Masters events are often held with heats that mix men and women with their results tabulated by categories and age groups after the event is completed. This is similar to local 5K runs, cycling races, triathlons, and other adult recreational events. It’s commonplace and safe.
- Our policy addresses concerns about fair competition. Under our interim eligibility policy, trans women are not eligible to receive competitive recognition in the female category but are allowed to participate. Everyone gets to swim. (Anyone who chooses to swim in the male competition category is eligible for recognition regardless of their sex assigned at birth or gender identity.)
- Locker room access is not part of our policy — we obey the law and facility policies. Our interim eligibility policy has absolutely nothing to do with locker room or bathroom access. USMS expects all facility rules and applicable local, state, and federal laws regarding access to locker rooms and bathrooms to be followed.
- Our organization has no political or social agenda — we are mission focused. We are a private nonprofit recreational swimming organization with a focus on adult fitness. We welcome all adults to take advantage of the mental and physical health benefits of swimming through workouts, events, learn-to-swim programs, and social interaction with other swimmers.
- 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.
We understand that the topic of transgender competition in women’s sports evokes strong emotions and differing opinions. No policy on transgender eligibility will satisfy everyone, but ours was created to allow us to continue to pursue our mission, satisfy rapidly changing state and federal guidelines, limit the impact to as few members as possible, and save the organization’s resources, which are designed to support our members’ swimming needs, not sustained legal or political theater.
We didn’t pick this fight, but we will take it head on and continue to strive to be a welcoming organization. We want you to keep swimming and enjoying all the benefits of your USMS membership and ask that you help us correct the mischaracterizations about our organization.
#SwimsuitsNotLawsuits
Sincerely,
Dawson Hughes, CEO, U.S. Masters Swimming
Ed Coates, President, U.S. Masters Swimming
(Posted July 29, 2025)
