How can we make NCAA swimming more trans* inclusive?

A recent article in USA Today called out a salient problem in NCAA trans* inclusivity- schools that athletic departments are not being proactive in creating a welcoming environment for trans athletes. There are comprehensive recommendations available, and in some instances, schools have adopted their own trans student-athlete inclusion policy. But, even in rare instances in which a trans inclusive policy exists, these will not function as intended unless the institution actively moves to put them in place. Many programs cite not having any openly trans identified athletes, presuming that if they did, these policies would spring to life and become a reality. That is not the case, as education and spreading awareness take effort, and if steps are not taken, it may be keeping trans people in the closet.

The recommendations look at the collegiate athletic experience in its entirety with an eye to gender sensitive areas. It goes beyond the eligibility requirements and covers trans specific needs in bathroom facilities, medical competency, and gender specific uniforms. It also gives agency to the individual, putting decisions such as using a separate locker room or not, in their hands. At the outset it states, “The legitimate privacy interests of all student-athletes should be protected. The medical privacy of transgender students should be preserved,” And programs are to, “anticipate and address transgender student-athlete access issues proactively and in accordance with departmental policy regarding locker room use, toilet and shower availability, hotel room assignment, uniforms and dress codes.” This would be great – if everyone followed it. However, there are instances where these recommendations actually conflict with other NCAA policy and undermine the entire focus on protecting and supporting all student athletes.

In the case of Schuyler Bailar, a trans man who will begin his Harvard swimming career this fall, the Harvard swim team was very accommodating in welcoming him onto the men’s team after being recruited for the women’s team.In addition to coming out to his teammates and coaches, assembling a medical team in the Cambridge area, Bailar has to be open enough to show his mastectomy scars every time he dawns a competition swimsuit. This may not be a big deal for Bailar, who is now publicly out to the entire country – a huge act of bravery that paves the way for many future trans collegiate athletes. But not every trans athlete is going to be as open about their gender identity or history, and not every prospective athlete is going to push against the grain to be included on a collegiate team. More specifically, not every trans man, is going to be comfortable showing their chest, scars or not, to their teammates, opposing teams, and spectators. If we are to make the NCAA truly trans inclusive, these contradictions in policy need to be worked out long before an athlete openly identifies as transgender.

NCAA Swimming and Diving programs adhere to the swimsuit regulations determined by FINA, the international swimming governing body. Swimsuits are therefore gender-specific, or “characterized by conformity to recognized standards of propriety.” Meaning that women’s chests, deemed too sexual by proprietary standards, must be covered but the suit will, “not extend beyond the shoulders nor below the top of the kneecap, nor cover the neck.” Without going too far into #FreetheNipple territory, it is only due to a movement in the late 1930’s normalizing men’s chests that we get this rule: “For men, the swimsuit shall not extend above the waist nor below the top of the kneecap.”

Herein lies the problem. Since men’s chest are deemed non-sexual and completely fine to show in public- it is actually required that they go topless in swim competition with the cis-normative idea that every man will have the same care-free relationship to their nude chest.

Why all the focus on swimsuit length to begin with? In past competitions, including Olympic games, men wore a variety of swimsuits, some covering their whole bodies down to their wrists and ankles. So did women. It was up to the swimmer to decide what worked best for them depending on their event of expertise.

As swimsuit technology progressed, suits got longer. And around 2008, a swimsuit with new technology appeared, making times remarkably faster. Within a few years of swimmers using it, it was deemed too much of a competitive advantage. Regulations were put in place to stop the progression away from pure athletic ability, “All swimsuit materials must be 100 percent permeable to air and water, ” meaning that the suit can’t float by itself in the water.

Presumably, to clear up all suit confusion and standardize the competition uniforms, FINA also decided to adopt the policy limiting the length of all suits. This is problematic and exclusive for a variety of reasons, from excluding certain religious groups who cannot show their arms or legs, to the simple fact that men, in this case, get cheated out of a little bit of extra fabric which would help them go faster. Since more suit equals faster times, why haven’t cis-men swimmers pushed back on this already?

With the current regulations, trans men are required to show a part of their bodies that is potentially very private, and could provoke harassment from onlookers. This directly contradicts the requirement to ensure each athlete’s medical privacy and personal safety and should be remedied immediately. One simple solution would be to make competition swimsuits gender neutral, or at least give all men the option of covering their chest or not. I’m sure cis-men swimmers would welcome the option to shave a tenth of a second off their times, without shaving chest hair.

Disclaimer: This post was written by a Feministing Community user and does not necessarily reflect the views of any Feministing columnist, editor, or executive director.

Recent University of Vermont Graduate with a degree in English and minors in Sexuality and Gender Identity Studies and French. Ally and intersectional feminist. Runner turned triathlete.

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