Latest news with #U.S.MastersSwimmingSpringNationalChampionship
Fox News
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Transgender swimmer wins 5 women's gold medals at championship meet in Texas
A transgender swimmer won five women's races at the U.S. Masters Swimming Spring National Championship last weekend. The swimmer, 47-year-old Ana Caldas, dominated all five races the athlete competed in, taking gold in the women's age 45-49 category in five races, including the 50- and 100-yard breaststroke, freestyle and the 100-yard individual medley. The controversy prompted backlash on social media. U.S. Masters Swimming's gender eligibility policy allows transgender swimmers to participate in the gender competition category in which they identify, and they may also be recognized for accomplishments, granted certain conditions are met. One of those conditions requires that a "hormonal therapy appropriate for the female gender has been administered continuously and uninterrupted in a verifiable manner for a sufficient length of time, no less than one year, to minimize gender-related advantages in sport competitions" and subsequent proof of low enough testosterone levels. Fox News Digital has reached out to U.S. Masters Swimming for comment. In June 2023, Texas passed the Save Women's Sports Act, which bans trans athletes from competing in girls and women's sports and only allows students to compete in the gender category listed on their birth certificate. The law only allows schools to recognize changes made to birth certificates that were made to correct a clerical error. And just last week, the Texas Senate voted to pass the Texas Women's Privacy Act by a vote of 20-11. The bill ensures women are safe in their bathrooms, locker rooms, showers and domestic abuse shelters. President Donald Trump has had an executive order in place since Feb. 5 that requires publicly funded institutions to ban trans athletes from women's and girls sports. The topic of trans competitors in women's swimming specifically became a national controversy in 2022 when former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, who previously competed for the school's men's swimming team, represented the school at the NCAA championships after transitioning to the women's category. UPenn and the NCAA are facing lawsuits over Thomas' participation in women's swimming, and the Trump administration has frozen funding to UPenn and declared it has violated Title IX. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
New York Post
02-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
Transgender swimmer crushes competition by winning five races at national championship event: ‘Real-life South Park episode'
A transgender swimmer obliterated the competition while winning five races at a recent national championship meet — which a high-profile critic likened to a 'real-life South Park episode.' Ana Caldas dominated the five individual events she entered in the women's 45-49 age group division in the U.S. Masters Swimming Spring National Championship last weekend in San Antonio, Texas. The swimmer — who was born biologically male — smashed other competitors in the 50- and 100-yard breaststroke races by a whopping four seconds. In the 100-yard freestyle event, she finished three seconds ahead of the next swimmer. Ana Caldas dominated the five individual events she entered in the women's 45-49 age group division of the U.S. Masters Swimming Spring National Championship. Footage circulating on social media showed Caldas far ahead of the women in her category as she easily secured one of her many gold medals — quickly sparking outrage. 'He won them all,' collegiate swimming champion and women's rights activist Riley Gaines tweeted, refusing to use Caldas' preferred pronouns. 'Real-life South Park episode.' Another activist, Beth Bourne, ripped Caldas' medal tally as 'insanity.' 'Anyone who competes in swimming at the national level knows this is unheard of in a 50-yard race where wins are often measured in a tenth or a hundredth of a second,' Bourne said in an X post. Meanwhile, an Independent Council on Women's Sports (ICONS) spokesperson told Reduxx that Caldas' wins were 'absolutely insane' — especially for sprint races. 'He's just laughing at these women,' the rep said.
