Transgender swimmers to be included in the trial of an open category at competitions

By STEPHEN WADE
AP Sports Writer

FUKUOKA, Japan (AP) — The governing body of swimming says it will set up an “open category” that will include transgender competitors. World Aquatics president Husain Al-Musallam says the event will take place in the future among other races but gave no details. Reports suggest it could be this year. He called it a “very complex topic” when speaking at the World Aquatics Congress in the southwestern Japanese city of Fukuoka. World Aquatics had previously banned transgender competitors from major events like the Olympics and world championships. Al-Musallam says “it was very important that we protected fair competition for our female athletes.”