Biological male swimmer dominates female opponents at Texas championship swim meet

A male swimmer who identifies as transgender dominated female competitors in a national swim meet last week in San Antonio, Texas. Ana Caldas, born as Hugo Caldas, swam to victory in all five of the women's category events that Caldas entered. This includes the 50 and 100-yard breaststroke, the 50 and 100-yard freestyle, and the 100-yard individual medley.

The US Masters Swimming (USMS) Spring National Championship took place between April 24 to April 27 at the Northside ISD Aquatic Center. Records show that Caldas not only won the events but dominated female opponents, beating them out in the 45 to 49 age category by three seconds in the freestyle races and four seconds in the breaststroke heats.

The transgender swimmer has been competing in women's swimming, rowing, and CrossFit competitions for decades, and took home seven all-American honors in USMS women's competitions between 2009 to 2012, Reduxx reported. Additionally, Caldas was named by FINA, the World Aquatics governing body, as the fastest female masters swimmer in the world for 50 meter and 100 meter freestyle in the over age 30 category in 2011.

A spokesperson for the Independent Council on Women's Sports (ICONS) told the outlet that the US Masters Swimming board was made aware of Caldas' participation in the women's category at the meet, calling the situation "absolutely insane." The organization sent a letter to the board to discuss concerns. ICONS is an advocacy group comprised of current and former professional and collegiate female athletes who work to safeguard women's sports from male participation, according to its website.

"Transparency in these matters is critical to maintaining the integrity of the competition and the trust of all USMS athletes. There is no length of time during which testosterone suppression eliminates male advantage; therefore, it should not serve as a guideline permitting men to compete in women's swimming," the letter reads, according to Reduxx. "At a minimum, it is USMS's responsibility to enforce its current policy."

ICONS mentioned the board's own policies regarding trans-identifying males competing against women, which require biological male athletes to show that they have undergone hormonal therapy treatments and submit documentation that shows testosterone levels below 5 nmol/L. 

The advocacy organization sent the email after Caldas came out victorious in the first heat. ICONS said that USMS did not respond to the inquiry, resulting in Caldas taking home gold in the rest of the matches.