World Aquatics bans transgender swimmer Hannah Caldas after sex test refusal violates policy: ‘Price I am happy to pay’
Caldas dominated in an April event by winning all five individual events at a meet, leading to controversy.
World Aquatics has announced a five-year ban from all events for transgender swimmer Hannah Caldas, after the athlete refused a series of sex tests that have been deemed necessary for competing in events in the American Masters series. Caldas will serve a ban that will be in place through to 2030.
In addition to the five-year ban, the refusal for a test also means Caldas will have her results from June 2022 to October 2024 deleted. This includes her results from the 2024 Masters World Championship in the women’s category in Doha, Qatar last year.
This follows after a ruling earlier this year in which the 47-year-old was reported as eligible to race in the women’s category in the 2025 Masters Spring Nationals, in April of this year. Caldas had won five events in the ages 45-49 category and was forced to undergo an eligibility determination at the request of another athlete, which she passed.
However, her refusal to undergo a genetic or chromosomal testing stood in violation of three different laws in the World Aquatics Integrity Code. A statement released on Caldas’ behalf by New York Aquatics revealed that these tests would need to have taken place at the athlete’s own expense, but was also mandatory under the competition’s Gender Policy requirements.
“Chromosomal tests are invasive and expensive procedures,” Caldas was quoted as saying in the New York Aquatics statement. “My insurance refuses to cover such a test because it is not medically necessary.”
‘I am prepared to let it all go…’: Caldas accepts fate
Caldas also pointed out that it was against the law to require chromosomal or genetic testing for recreational sports, noting that US Masters Swimming doesn’t ‘demand this for any of its events’. It is under the World Aquatics investigation that she was banned.
“I understand and accept the consequences of not complying with a World Aquatics investigation,” she stated. “But if a five-year suspension is the price I must pay to protect my most intimate medical information, then it’s a price I am happy to pay—for myself, and for every other woman who does not want to submit to highly invasive medical testing just to swim in an older-adult competition.”
Following the ban, Caldas hinted that she would not return to swimming at these events: “I have been swimming in sanctioned events for over 30 years, and I am prepared to let it all go. My life and privacy have been invaded enough. It is time to prioritise my health and personal safety.”
Caldas’ ban follows in the wake of the high-profile case of Lia Thomas, who became the first openly transgender swimmer to win an NCAA Division I title in American college sports. However, the Court of Arbitration for Sports upheld a restriction against transgender athletes initiated by World Aquatics, which spelt an end of Thomas and other transgender athletes from swimming competitively in the future.
