Is there a competitive advantage for transgender athletes?
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(CNN) --
The governing body for competitive swimming in the United States issued a new policy on Tuesday about transgender athletes who want to compete in elite events.
Effective immediately, USA Swimming said a three-person panel of independent medical experts will now decide whether the athlete's "previous physical development as a man" will give an unfair advantage over cisgender women.
The panel will also check that testosterone levels are below five nanomoles per liter for at least 36 months prior to competition.
"USA Swimming has and will continue to advocate for gender equality and the inclusion of all cisgender and transgender women and their rights to participate in sport, while strongly supporting competitive equality at elite levels of competition," he said in a statement. a statement on Tuesday.
"The development of elite politics therefore recognizes a competitive difference in the male and female categories and the disadvantages this creates in head-to-head elite competition."
Laurel Hubbard, first transgender athlete in the Olympics 0:35
The statement comes at a time when University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, who is transgender, has been breaking records in collegiate events.
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He had previously competed on the Penn men's swim team and underwent two years of hormone therapy.
During the preliminary rounds of last year's Zippy Invitational, Thomas set a new pool and meet record in the 500-yard freestyle.
She then set a new record for the show by being over 12 seconds faster in the finale.
Lia Thomas warming up before an NCAA college swim meet in January 2022.
During a June interview with the student publication Penn Today, Thomas said swimming was "a big part of my life and who I am."
"The process of coming out as trans and continuing to swim involved a lot of uncertainty and misunderstanding around an area that is usually very firm," Thomas said.
"Realizing I was trans put that into question. Was I going to keep swimming? How was that going to be?"
It is currently unclear if Thomas will be able to compete in the next NCAA championships in March under the new policy.
In its statement Tuesday, USA Swimming cited statistical data it says shows the "highest-ranked woman in 2021 would, on average, be ranked 536th in all men's short course (25-yard) events in the country".
He added: "While the need for the aforementioned guidelines in elite competition is recognized, sport is an important vehicle for positive physical and mental health, and for this reason, USA Swimming remains steadfast in its ongoing commitment to a greater inclusivity at non-elite levels.
USA Swimming says the policy will remain in place until world swimming's governing body, the Fédération Internationale De Natation (FINA), publishes its policy on the matter.
-- Melissa Alonso and Amy Simonson contributed reporting.
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