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EXCLUSIVE: US Masters Swimming (USMS), a competitive swimming membership organization with more than 60,000 adult swimmers, was pushed to the national controversy last week after reports arose that a Trans swimmer won five women’s events.
USMS confirmed Pak Gazette Digital that he is currently making an eligibility review in response to a competitor’s request at the meeting.
Louisiana’s wife and a long time swimmer Wendy Enderle said she presented the request for an eligibility review after discovering that one of the competitors she has faced for years was transgender, through a news article derived from the incident last week.
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The female swimmer Wendy Enderle swam in the 2018 USMS Spring Championship. (Courtesy of Wendy Enderle)
“I feel betrayed. Simple and simple,” Ender Digital Fox told Fox.
Enderle competed more recently against the Trans athlete in the National Spring Championship Usms in San Antonio from April 27 to 27. The Trans athlete, Ana Caldas, won the gold in five races, even in the freestyle of 50 and 100 yards in age group 45-49 against Enderle.
Enderle first saw Caldas in person in February 2024 at the World Aquatics Masters World World Championships of 50 m freestyle in Doha, Qatar. Enderle ended with a time of 29.19, while Caldas ended at 27.91.
However, Enderle said he did not appear directly to Caldas until a USMS met in Little Rock, Arkansas, in January. When he met Caldas, Enderle noticed the muscles and the height of the athlete, but still assumed that Caldas was biologically feminine.
“I knew there was something, but I didn’t know what, I had no idea that she was a trans woman until last Wednesday after the encounter,” Enderle said. “I was surprised … I worry, it angry.”
Enderle submitted his application for eligibility review against Caldas last week. One of the main objectives of that decision is to prevent Caldas from competing in the World Masters World Championship this year in Singapore.
“I don’t think it’s right that she is competing in the women’s category, and I don’t think she should compete in the women’s category this August in Singapore,” Enderle said.
“I am not trying to keep Ana, I am not trying to prevent anyone else from competing. I have nothing against trans people, I have nothing against LGBTQ people. But I believe in justice in sports and I don’t think men can participate in women’s sports. I don’t think it’s fair.”
The female swimmer of the USMS, Angie Griffin, also swam with Caldas last week without knowledge of the birth genre of Caldas.
The shock to learn the news about Caldas led Griffin to write a formal complaint letter to USMS. The letter also asked the organization to “reassess” that recent National Spring Championship and completely review its current gender eligibility policy.
Griffin competed against Caldas in three races and ended behind the Trans athlete in the 50 -yard bracelet and the 100 -yard individual potpourri.
“I could not stop thinking about how the integrity of individual competition had been committed, why does it not follow the same competitive standards as the rest of the world and the NCAA? Why are athletes asking less transparency and justice?” Griffin told Pak Gazette Digital “I paid my entry, air tickets and hotel, trusting that I would be competing in a women’s division defined by biological sex. I deserved to know the truth before moving on to the blocks.”
The Griffin team beat the Caldas team in the free 45+ 200 female relay, but Griffin still moved away from the incident that was worried.
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“Reflecting on the encounter, that high point of winning the relay did not erase the greatest concern,” Griffin said.
While USMS is doing an eligibility review based on the San Antonio meeting, the organization admitted that it has never disqualified a swimmer based on gender identity.
“USMS has not disqualified a swimmer from official recognition based on gender eligibility after an event,” the organization told Pak Gazette Digital.
The USMS gender eligibility policy establishes that swimmers who identify as transgender are not obliged to provide documentation on eligibility to participate, until a review request is made. Even so, the organization said the documentation verification is rare.
“If a review request is presented, our eligibility panel, composed of member leaders and experts in the field, follows a structured and confidential process to determine if the athlete complies with the official recognition criteria. This includes reviewing the documentation that the swimmer provides after our published policy,” said USMS.
“The cases that require documentation are extremely rare, and we follow a structured process in line with our published rules and policies. This protects the privacy of athletes and guarantees that the same standard applies to each swimmer.”
The USMS policy allows transgender swimmers to participate in the category of gender competition in which they are identified, and can also be recognized by achievements, if certain conditions are met.
One of the two conditions requires that hormonal therapy be adequately administered continuously and uninterruptedly for not less than a year. The other condition is the proof of serum testosterone levels measured during the last twelve months below five NMOL/L (144.25 ng/dl).
Trans swimmers who do not meet these requirements can still participate in the women’s category, but their times are eliminated from the results presented, and are not eligible for official times, places, points, records, 10 best forms of official recognition.
