British Rowing ‘forfeited fairness’ by allowing men to compete in women’s events

British Rowing is under fire for allowing men to compete in the women’s category in domestic events.

Following a consultation, the national governing body for rowing in Great Britain has revised its 2016 guidelines on those who identify as the opposite sex. Now, biological males over 16 years of age will be able to compete in women’s competitions on the basis of testosterone levels.

But despite the governing body’s claim to have acknowledged the Sports Council Equality Group’s 2021 ‘Guidance for Transgender Inclusion in Domestic Sport’, campaigners have highlighted that British Rowing ignores the guidance’s statement that testosterone suppression “cannot guarantee fairness”.

‘Grand deception’

Dr Ross Tucker, a sports scientist for World Rugby, said: “British Rowing should be embarrassed by this grand deception. A claim that it follows the council guidelines is followed by intellectual tap dancing and outright dishonesty, the end result being discrimination against women.”

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Chief Sports Writer Oliver Brown commented that “rowing emphasises, to a greater extent than almost any other Olympic discipline, the inherent physiological advantages enjoyed by men.

intellectual tap dancing and outright dishonesty

“It is one where speed is determined by the interplay of upper body strength, lung capacity and length of levers, all metrics that are influenced decisively by biology.”

The Consortium on Female Sport added: “British Rowing appears to have chosen to forfeit fairness in this version. Their choice is to discriminate against female rowers, even when there is an “open” category available.”

No tests

The policy also claims that clubs should “consider whether at recreational level squads need to be gender segregated”, adding that if they are, “a trans or non-binary person should be able to participate in whichever squad they feel most comfortable with”.

For those under 16, the governing body will allow boys who have not undergone puberty to apply to compete as a girls without taking medical tests. The policy and accompanying guidance are set to be reviewed within twelve months.

However, Chair of British Rowing Mark Davies has voiced his concerns about the policy, and also called for World Rowing to follow other international sporting bodies for cycling, swimming and rugby league, which recently strengthened rules to protect women’s sports.

Protections

Last month, World Rugby said it will not shift from its position that males cannot compete against females, despite being threatened with legal action.

The international governing body of rugby union stated that it will continue to follow the latest scientific guidance and prohibit the mixing of sexes at elite level, but leave it up to national unions on its application at grassroots level.