The head of British Rowing has pushed World Rowing to amend its transgender policy, citing a threat to hard-won development in women’s sport.
Mark Davies asked the sport to follow the lead of swimming’s governing organization, Fina, which has voted to prevent anyone older than 12 who has through male puberty from competing in the female division due to the advantage it offers in terms of strength, size, lung capacity, and endurance.
Next year, transgender women will be required to compete in the “open category” in swimming. However, the majority of international sports, including rowing, still permit trans women to compete in the female division after a 12-month testosterone reduction.
Even after taking testosterone-suppressing medications for more than a decade, transgender women retain considerable cardiovascular and strength advantages over female athletes, according to recent research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
In a study examining the effect of long-term estrogen therapy and prior exposure to testosterone during puberty on athletic performance, researchers at the University of So Paulo discovered that transgender women had an average VO2 max that was 20.2% higher and a grip strength that was 18.9% higher than females.
The study was based on a series of treadmill and hand grip tests conducted on fifteen transgender women who had taken hormone therapy for an average of fourteen years. The results were then compared to those of 13 cisgender men and 14 cisgender women.
At the World Rowing Congress, Davies stated, “British Rowing is going to issue an update to its transgender policy that will align it with that of World Rowing.
“World Rowing is less protective of women’s sport than some other international sports federations like Fina, which has adopted a policy of having open and women’s categories, where open is for anyone who went through male puberty – recognizing that limiting testosterone levels fails to counteract the long-term effects of this.
“Would rowing examine its policies in light of the threat to hard-won gains in women’s sport and consider following Fina’s example?”
Professor of sport and exercise genetics at Manchester Metropolitan University, Alun Williams, stated that the Brazilian study indicated that transgender women do have an unfair edge over female athletes.
He stated, “This new evidence does not support the eligibility of transwomen for female categories in the majority of sports.” “The cardiovascular fitness test appears to be rather accurate, and the investigators have obtained individuals whose testosterone levels have been decreasing for years, which is unusual.
“However, there are superior and more informative methods for assessing strength in sports, such as squatting or bench pressing. We might then build on that in a more sophisticated manner in the laboratory.”
