Surf, opens up to transgenders. Legends rebel

The world of pro surfing opens up to transgender athletes. The World Surf League does so, a media company that acts as a league for professionals, which has announced that it will adopt the transgender policy of the International Surfing Association (ISA) – the world surfing federation, recognized by the International Olympic Committee – in all its leagues and events.

The policy, which the ISA itself first adopted in October 2022, requires athletes born male to maintain a testosterone level below 5 nmol/L (nanomols per litre) continuously for the previous 12 months in order to compete in a women’s event.

The testosterone threshold established by the WSL and ISA parallels policies created by World Rowing and the International Tennis Federation. World Triathlon and the International Cycling Union, however, require transgender athletes to stay below 2.5 nmol/L for 24 months to be eligible. World Athletics proposes to use the same approach. The International Swimming Federation and World Rugby have implemented policies that essentially ban transgender women from competing in a women’s division.

The official statement of the WSL: “As an Olympic sport, and with the aspiration to include all the disciplines of the WSL in the Olympics, the WSL has adopted the International Surfing Association’s (ISA) policy on transgender participation. A surfer’s eligibility to compete in a men’s or women’s event under this rule is subject to compliance with the ISA’s transgender policy. The WSL is working to balance fairness and equity, and we will continue to evaluate the policy in the months and years ahead as more research, information and feedback becomes available.”

The WSL also made it known which will not test the athletes directly, but they will organize them, then report to the WSL Chief Medical Officer to have a confidential conversation and show medical records.

Pressure to classify transgender surfers has intensified with the case of Sasha Jane Lowerson, who won the women’s open and logger divisions in the longboard category of Western Australia in May 2022 She was the first openly transgender athlete to win a surfing competition. But not all surfers agree.

He distanced himself from the decision of the World Surf League, for example, Bethany Hamilton, a surfing champion who lost her arm to a shark attack at the age of 13, threatens to boycott the WSL from her social networks. “Let me be clear, I strive to have love for all of humanity, regardless of any differences. But that concerns me as a professional athlete who has competed in World Surf League events for the past 15 plus years. And I feel that I have to speak up and I have to stand up for those in position who feel they can’t say something about it. I think many of the girls currently on tour don’t agree with this new rule and are afraid of being ostracized if they speak…”, explains the champion. “Were any of the current World Surf League surfers asked what their thoughts and opinions were on this new rule before it was passed? Should there be a conversation with the 17 women and all men on tour before a rule change like this? Also, is a hormone level an honest and accurate representation that someone is really a boy or a girl? It’s that simple?”.

It’s still: “Who is pushing for this huge change? Does this improve the sport of surfing? Is this better for women in surfing? If so, how? How did anyone who decided on these hormone rules come to the conclusion that twelve months of testosterone testing makes it a fair and legal change? Why is the WSL statement about trans women competing with women and yet not talking about female converts competing with men?”

Words that are moving the world of surfing. Another famous name, that of the Hawaiian Kimo Leong, sided with Hamilton. While the star Kelly Slater is for an ad hoc division for transgenders.