Roanoke College women's swim team calls on NCAA to change policy on trans athletes

A Virginia college swim team held a news conference Thursday calling on the NCAA to change its policies to prevent transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports, receiving praise from Gov. Glenn Youngkin but pushback from advocates calling for more inclusion in sports.

Ten Roanoke College swimmers held the news conference after a transgender student who identifies as female asked to join the women’s swim team at the start of the semester.

“Our school was prioritizing one individual swimmer over 17 women whose only request was fairness," one team member said.

According to Roanoke College, the student competed on the men’s team in 2021, then took a year off before asking to join the women’s team. The school says it was the first time it had ever encountered something like this.

Earlier in the week, the school voted to officially adopt the NCAA’s policy allowing transgender athletes to compete. Prior to that vote, the athlete in question opted to withdraw her request to compete.

“The thought of having to compete against a biological man is a message that women aren't worthy, that we don't actually matter,” another team member said.

“This is not a moment of condemning someone,” Youngkin said. “It’s a matter of fairness. We can love one another, but of course, we should have women have a right to compete in sports in a fair way.”

Anna Baeth of Athlete Ally disagrees. Her group advocates for LGBTQ-inclusion in sports. She says the NCAA has strict guidelines when it comes to testosterone-level testing for trans athletes.

“So, the reality that there is an expectation that this athlete would be maintaining a blood testosterone threshold that's quite low for three years really does manage and mitigate what some people might consider to be the competitive advantage,” Baeth said.

Baeth argues equity in women’s sports comes from inclusion rather than the exclusion of certain athletes.

“I believe that it's the mission of sport, and it should be the mission of the NCAA, to continue maintaining those spaces where we can really support the physical and mental health of all young people,” she said.

The athlete who asked permission to join the women’s team was not identified by the school nor the swim team.