The answer is “graded” competition
by fortune_smith (2021-12-24 00:38:54)

In reply to: Either ban or devise an equalizing time penalty  posted by SixShutouts66

Post Reply Return to Olympic

Compete against men and women, if there are any in the latter category, of approximately-equivalent ability.

This is how club track works in the UK, where I live. Runners are classified on ability. Nobody cares if they are men, women or something in-between. And all the athletes seem to respect each other.

Unfortunately, the NCAA doesn’t seem to have a construct that works at the current time, surely partly due to an inadequate number of talented transitioning athletes to create a competitive classification.

Having Lia compete against biological women doesn’t hold water and is grossly unfair: it’s insulting and a disregard to the tremendous work the biological women put into the sports they compete in. The biological women deserve every opportunity to win the laurels they compete for.

Maybe a time penalty could be an answer. In track, men’s recruiting times are something like 14-15% faster than women’s. I’m not familiar with swimming, but perhaps it’s directionally similar.

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