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US Masters Swimming under investigation after trans athlete takes five women's gold medals at Texas event
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into U.S. Master’s Swimming after an event in San Antonio at the end of April saw a biologically male trans competitor win five women’s events.
Multiple female competitors told Fox News Digital after the meet that they did not even know the trans athlete was a biological male.
Now, Paxton’s office is taking action, as Texas has a law in place to prohibit trans athletes from competing in women’s and girls’ sports.
“The policy of U.S. Masters Swimming, which allows men to compete in women’s events, is reprehensible and could violate Texas’s consumer protection laws,” Paxton said in an announcement. “Not only is this policy insulting to female athletes, but it also demonstrates deep contempt for women and may violate Texas law. I will fight to stop these unfair policies and never back down from defending the integrity of women’s sports.”
The trans swimmer, 47-year-old Ana Caldas, dominated all five races the athlete competed in, taking gold in the women’s age 45-49 category in five races, including the 50- and 100-yard breaststroke, freestyle and the 100-yard individual medley.
Louisiana woman and long-time swimmer Wendy Enderle said she filed the request for an eligibility review after finding out that one of the competitors she has faced for years was transgender, via a news article stemming from last week’s incident.
Now, Enderle is grateful to see Paxton’s office taking action.
“I was very encouraged by the announcement that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is launching an investigation into U.S. Masters Swimming after allowing a transgender swimmer to unfairly compete against me and fellow female swimmers last month in San Antonio,” Enderle told Fox News Digital.
WOMEN’S SWIMMERS SPEAK OUT AFTER UNKNOWINGLY FACING TRANS COMPETITOR, FILING COMPLAINT: ‘I FEEL BETRAYED’
Women’s swimmer Wendy Enderle swims at the 2018 USMS Spring Championship (Courtesy of Wendy Enderle)
Enderle is also hoping that the U.S. Department of Justice will take action as well. President Donald Trump has had an executive order in place since Feb. 5 that requires publicly funded institutions to ban trans athletes from women’s and girls sports. USMS is not publicly-funded, however.
“I hope that U.S. Masters Swimming quickly adopts a more appropriate and fair policy in line with World Aquatics policy. I also would like to see U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi look into whether U.S. Masters Swimming violates Presidential Executive Order number 14201, Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports, dated February 5, 2025,” Enderle added.
“I am not a legal expert, but it is my opinion that USMS violates this order as they are an athletic association and sport-specific governing body as referenced in the order. Thank you to the great state of Texas for standing up for women and girls!”
In June 2023, Texas passed the Save Women’s Sports Act, which bans trans athletes from competing in girls and women’s sports and only allows students to compete in the gender category listed on their birth certificate. The law only allows schools to recognize changes made to birth certificates that were made to correct a clerical error.
Wendy Enderle swam at the US Masters. (Fox Business)
More legislation aimed at protecting females from trans inclusion in sports could soon be signed into law in Texas as well.
Earlier this month, the Texas Senate voted to pass the Texas Women’s Privacy Act by a vote of 20-11. The bill ensures women are safe in their bathrooms, locker rooms, showers and domestic abuse shelters.
Meanwhile, USMS policy allows transgender swimmers to participate in the gender competition category in which they identify, and they may also be recognized for accomplishments, if certain conditions are met.
(Stewie the Duck Swim School)
One of the two conditions requires that hormonal therapy appropriately be administered continuously and uninterrupted in a verifiable manner for no less than one year. The other condition is proof of testosterone serum levels measured during the last twelve months being below five nmol/L (144.25 ng/dL).
Trans swimmers who do not meet those requirements can still participate in the women’s category, but their times are removed from the submitted results, and they are not eligible for official times, places, points, records, Top 10 or other forms of official recognition.
Fox News Digital has reached out to USMS on the pending investigation for comment.
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A spokesperson from the United States Attorney’s Office told KTLA that jurors will continue to deliberate until they reach a verdict or give up.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 30, a former Uber driver and one-time Pacific Palisades resident, is accused of starting the Lachman Fire on New Year’s Eve. The fire continued to smolder underground for about a week, even after Los Angeles firefighters believed it had been extinguished.
Flames reignited on Jan. 7, erupting into the deadly Palisades Fire that killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes in the upscale community, authorities said.
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The defense argued there is no direct physical evidence tying Rinderknecht to the fire and said the prosecution’s case relies entirely on circumstantial evidence. Rinderknecht did not testify during the trial.
Defense attorney Steve Haney spoke outside the courthouse Wednesday about why he believes it will be difficult for prosecutors to prove how the fire started.
“The lack of scene preservation. The fact that they got there after a lot of the evidence was missing. Not a lot of direct evidence. This is a circumstantial case, which is always difficult as a prosecutor to prove,” Haney said.
Rinderknecht, who was arrested and indicted last October, faces up to 45 years in prison if found guilty of three arson counts, including destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and timber set afire.
Tony Kurzweil contributed to this report
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