Transgender Swimmer Banned For Five Years For Refusing Sex Test After Dominating Female Competition
A transgender swimmer has received a five-year ban and been stripped of all competition results between June 2022 and October 2024 by World Aquatics after refusing to take a gender verification test.
Ana Caldas, 47, said they feel it is “not medically necessary” to undergo expensive chromosomal testing that is not covered by their insurance, and so ended up taking the punishment instead.
Caldas said: “Chromosomal tests are invasive and expensive procedures.
“My insurance refuses to cover such a test because it is not medically necessary.
“No US state requires genetic tests for recreational sports events like these. Not even US Masters Swimming, the national governing body for recreational adult swimming in the US, demands this for any of its events.”
That may be true, but in this case, the gender verification screening is part of World Aquatics’ investigation into Caldas’ eligibility, which stems from an investigation into US Masters Swimming earlier this year.
Caldas said: “I understand and accept the consequences. But a five-year suspension is the price I have to pay to protect my most intimate medical information.
“I’m happy to pay that price – for myself and for all the women who don’t want to undergo invasive testing.”
World Aquatics has banned Caldas until October 2030. Which is good news for biological female swimmers in her division, given that Caldas dominated all five events in the women’s 45-49 age group division in the U.S. Masters Swimming Spring National Championship in May earlier this year.
I mean, look at those traps – you’d expect nothing less than total domination from a specimen like this:
Riley Gaines — a former swimmer who has been critical of transgender athletes in swimming — reshared the news on social media:
Not AI. Not a Babylon Bee post. Not a South Park episode. Not a SNL skit. This is real life. https://t.co/aQ0Q6BvrXh
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) October 23, 2025
The Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) had sent a letter to the US Masters Swimming board explaining that allowing Caldas to compete violates fair play policies and compromises the integrity of competitive swimming.
🚨 BREAKING: @WorldAquatics has suspended male athlete Hugo “Hannah/Ana” Caldas from women’s swimming for 5 years and revoked his 2024 world titles and record, following his refusal to undergo sex-verification screening to prove eligibility in the women’s category. pic.twitter.com/p2qFBKocx2
— ICONS (@icons_women) October 22, 2025
The letter states that trans women must have had hormonal therapy and have testosterone levels below 5 nmol/L in order to compete against biological females.
Previously, the University of Pennsylvania banned transgender swimmer Lia Thomas and stripped her of all her titles.
