Trans Athletes

The NCAA rules allow trans athletes to play on the team of their gender identity under certain conditions, as a result more trans people are playing sports.

TRANSGENDER SWIMMER MAKES HISTORY IN THE NCAA IN THE US
GNN
13 November 2015

A transgender man in the US has become the first NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Division I openly transgender swimmer.

According to Harvard, Schuyler Bailar, made history in Friday's dual meet against Bryant.
Outsports reported Bailer said:

"It was a pretty emotional moment for me. I had been at countless national anthems getting ready to race and this was the first one I was really myself in a swim setting, and that's something I've been working towards for a really long time."

Bailer’s first race was breaststroke in the 200 medley relay.

According to Jared Anderson writing in SwimSwam,

The Harvard Crimson men will open their season this weekend with a home meet against Bryant University, and the meet will also serve as the NCAA debut of Schuyler Bailar, the first transgender NCAA swimmer in recent history.

Bailar was orginally recruited to the Harvard women’s program out of the powerhouse Nation’s Capital Swim Club, and was a member of a national age group record-setting relay in women’s competition.

But last year, Bailar came out as transgender, and will officially make his freshman debut as a member of the men’s program.
[…]
The Harvard coaches were supportive throughout the decision-making process, Bailar says, going back to 2014, when he first told the coach who recruited him, Harvard women’s coach Stephanie Morawski, that he was transgender.

“She didn’t skip a beat,” Bailar said. “She was like, we’ll make it work. If you want to keep swimming, we’re going to make it work.”

And make it work Harvard did, as Bailar was offered a spot on the men’s team, an option Bailar officially decided on in the spring of 2015.

NCAA has an extensive policy that Bailer must follow,

Hormone therapy will help that charge. Bailar is taking testosterone to reach the level of an average male – the NCAA already has a system in place to govern the fairness of this, which you can read about in the NCAA’s handbook on transgender student-athlete participartion. Bailar’s testosterone levels are monitored regularly to ensure there are no competitive advantages over other men.

The same is true for trans female athletes, they also have to follow a strict hormone regiment with monitoring.