Trans swimmer Ana Caldas has been banned from competing for the next five years by World Aquatics for refusing to undergo an invasive and expensive gender verification test, a move that likely signals the end of her career in swimming.

“I have been swimming in sanctioned events for over 30 years, and I am prepared to let it all go,” Caldas said in a statement via New York Aquatics. “My life and privacy have been invaded enough. It is time to prioritize my health and personal safety.”

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World Aquatics announced the Caldas’ five-year ban earlier this week, as well as the news that she would be stripped of her results from competitions taking place from June 2022 to October 2024.

With an increase in attacks and harassment of trans athletes over the last few years, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced in May that Texas was launching an investigation into US Masters Swimming (USMS) to see if they were in violation of state laws. “The policy of US Masters Swimming, which allows men to compete in women’s events, is reprehensible and could violate Texas’s consumer protection laws,” Paxton said in his announcement.

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In response to the investigation, USMS introduced an interim policy on July 1, which they say “aligns with World Aquatics policy,” where trans people could compete in the category that matched their gender identity, but were not eligible for recognition and medals.

Despite their capitulation to the investigation, USMS was then sued by Paxton on July 17. “The organization has cowered to radical activists pushing gender warfare, and it has deprived female participants of the opportunity to succeed at the highest levels by letting men win countless events,” Paxton said.

USMS posted to Facebook about their surprise over the lawsuit. Paxton’s lawsuit heavily references Ana Caldas and includes her deadname.

Caldas has been the focus of much harassment over her participation in women’s sports, with her success as an athlete being used as a negative. That included The Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) filing a complaint against Caldas’ inclusion in the sport as a trans woman.

Caldas was reportedly asked to undergo gender verification and chromosomal screening. ICONS’s complaint asserted that trans female athletes must have testosterone levels below 5nmol/L.

However, Caldas refused to undergo the tests, citing that they are “invasive and expensive procedures” that are not covered by insurance because they are not medically necessary. In her statement, Caldas also noted that “No U.S. state requires genetic tests for recreational sports events like these. Not even U.S. Masters Swimming, the national governing body for recreational adult swimming in the U.S., demands this for any of its events.”

According to New York Aquatics, Caldas loves Masters Swimming, but has no plans to take part in any of their sanctioned events in the foreseeable future, and appears to be leaving her swimming career behind.

“I understand and accept the consequences of not complying with a World Aquatics investigation,” she said. “But if a five-year suspension is the price I must pay to protect my most intimate medical information, then it’s a price I am happy to pay—for myself, and for every other woman who does not want to submit to highly invasive medical testing just to swim in an older-adult competition.”

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