Trans swimmer’s career ended for refusing gender test

[Jessica_Rose]

Trans swimmer's career ended for refusing gender test

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/10/trans-swimmers-career-ended-for-refusing-gender-test/ 🔗

Faefyx Collington (24 Oct 2025)

Trans swimmer Ana Caldas has been banned from competing for the next five years by World Aquatics for refusing to undergo an invasive and expensive gender verification test, a move that likely signals the end of her career in swimming.

"I have been swimming in sanctioned events for over 30 years, and I am prepared to let it all go," Caldas said in a statement via New York Aquatics. "My life and privacy have been invaded enough. It is time to prioritize my health and personal safety."

World Aquatics announced the Caldas' five-year ban earlier this week, as well as the news that she would be stripped of her results from competitions taking place from June 2022 to October 2024.

With an increase in attacks and harassment of trans athletes over the last few years, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced in May that Texas was launching an investigation into US Masters Swimming (USMS) to see if they were in violation of state laws. "The policy of US Masters Swimming, which allows men to compete in women's events, is reprehensible and could violate Texas's consumer protection laws," Paxton said in his announcement.

Caldas was reportedly asked to undergo gender verification and chromosomal screening. ICONS's complaint asserted that trans female athletes must have testosterone levels below 5nmol/L.

However, Caldas refused to undergo the tests, citing that they are "invasive and expensive procedures" that are not covered by insurance because they are not medically necessary. In her statement, Caldas also noted that "No U.S. state requires genetic tests for recreational sports events like these. Not even U.S. Masters Swimming, the national governing body for recreational adult swimming in the U.S., demands this for any of its events."

[Allie Jayne]

If Gender is how we see ourselves, how can you find it with chromosomal screening? In truth, the words Gender and Sex have been conflated so often as to make them both useless, and this is also a huge barrier to getting people to understand us.

Be it right or wrong, this is simply not the climate for many of us to be involved in, at least, elite levels of competition. Though I personally supported Lia Thomas' right to compete, practically, the harm which came to trans athletes worldwide, and also the general trans community, was simply too high. If I was in her position, I would not have competed (her win at the NCAA championships came during a Covid depleted field of swimmers). We should all fight for equal rights, but currently, many of us are fighting for survival. I would hate to think that my struggles against an athletic body so I could compete led to individuals and families fleeing states, or even worse.

Hugs,

Allie 

[Sephirah]

With an increase in attacks and harassment of trans athletes over the last few years, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced in May that Texas was launching an investigation into US Masters Swimming (USMS) to see if they were in violation of state laws. "The policy of US Masters Swimming, which allows men to compete in women's events, is reprehensible and could violate Texas's consumer protection laws," Paxton said in his announcement.

The wording of this is purely a witch hunt. As you might expect. You can read the actual policy, and the interim policy they had to put in place after this, here:

https://www.usms.org/volunteer-central/policy-and-governance/usms-policies/transgender-swimmer-inclusion 🔗

None of it talks about men competing in women's events. And the interim policy they've had to adopt because of this smoothbrain basically seems to say that trans women can only compete if they can prove they were female at birth.

[Lori Dee]

It is always a tell-tale sign of their bigotry when they use terms like "biological male" or say "men in women's events". There are no "men" in any women's events. Period. Full Stop.