On Thursday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a lawsuit against US Masters Swimming (USMS), an organization for competitive adult swimmers with over 60,000 members.
This legal action stems from an event in San Antonio where a transgender athlete, assigned male at birth, secured five gold medals in women’s categories.
Several female competitors expressed their surprise to Fox News Digital, stating they were unaware of the athlete’s biological background during the competition.
“I am suing our masters who are swimming for engaging in illegal practices by allowing men to compete in women’s competition,” Paxton declared in a post on X. He accused USMS of collaborating with radical activists in a “gender war,” asserting that the lawsuit would hold the organization accountable for its actions.
Paxton’s statement claims that USMS is involved in “false, deceptive, and misleading practices” for permitting men to participate in women’s events.
Fox News Digital attempted to contact USMS for a response.
In June 2023, Texas enacted the Save Women’s Sports Act, a law that restricts transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports, stipulating that students can only compete according to the gender marked on their birth certificates.
This law does allow schools to acknowledge changes made to birth certificates if they correct administrative errors.
Previously, Paxton initiated an investigation into USMS following the April incident.
Anacarda, a 47-year-old transgender swimmer, dominated the events, winning gold medals in the 45-49 women’s categories across five races, including breaststroke and freestyle.
Wendy Endere, a longtime swimmer from Louisiana, mentioned that she felt deceived after learning of Caldas’ transgender status through media coverage of the April event.
“I feel betrayed. It’s plain and simple,” Endere stated to Fox News Digital.
Endere noted that she only met Caldas at a USMS gathering earlier this year, assuming she was a cisgender female based on her appearance.
“I sensed there was something different, but I didn’t know what. I never thought she was a trans woman until last Wednesday after the competition,” Endere admitted, expressing feelings of shock and frustration.
Another competitor, Angie Griffin, swam against Caldas in April without knowledge of her transgender identity. The revelation prompted Griffin to file formal complaints with USMS.
In her complaint, Griffin requested that USMS “reevaluate” the spring national championship results and reconsider its gender eligibility policy, emphasizing concerns about competition integrity.
Griffin recalled competing in events where she finished behind Caldas, raising questions about fairness in the races.
“We couldn’t stop thinking about how the integrity of individual competition was compromised. Why isn’t USMS aligning with competitive standards recognized by the NCAA? Why are we being asked to lower the standards of transparency and fairness?” she remarked to Fox News Digital.
Griffin highlighted the investments made to participate, stating, “I trusted that I was competing fairly, defined by biological sex. I deserved to know the truth before stepping into the block.”
Recently, US Masters Swimming’s Board of Directors and the Rules Committee updated its participation guidelines, which now allow members to register in competitive categories that reflect their gender identity. However, they clarified that eligibility for the women’s recognition program is contingent upon being in a competitive category aligning with the gender assigned at birth.
The guidelines also note that individuals whose gender identity is female but who are classified as 46 XY DSD are eligible for the female category if they can satisfactorily establish that their gender assigned at birth is female.
