Sports
Sportin’ in D.C.
D.C. Aquatics Club has AIDS benefit race this weekend
District of Columbia Aquatics Club members at a recent charity swim. (Photo courtesy of Kevin Majoros)
Back in 1996, I was competing in triathlons in the Mid-Atlantic region and was cross training in multiple sports. A former swimming rival from Ohio, Paul Frentsos, told me about an LGBT swim team in D.C. called the District of Columbia Aquatics Club (DCAC). I ended up competing with them at the International Gay and Lesbian Aquatic (IGLA) Championships that year and have been a member ever since.
The team began in 1987 when a few of the members of the Washington Wetskins water polo team decided to compete in swimming as well as water polo at the IGLA Championships that year. DCAC is a member of both United States Masters Swimming (USMS), which boasts more than 42,000 master swimmers and IGLA. Over the years, DCAC has grown to become one of the largest masters swim teams in the Potomac Valley region with around 150 members. It consists of athletes who have never competed in a swim meet to world record holders.
Competitive swimmers compete in three different types of pools, short course yards (25 yards), short course meters (25 meters) and long course meters (50 meters). DCAC offers practices during the winter at the Takoma Aquatic Center, Marie Reed Recreation Center and Montgomery College. In the summer, it offers the opportunity for long course training at Haines Point.
To become a member of DCAC, you must first join U.S. Masters Swimming which is $37 per year. With that fee, you will receive Swimmer Magazine, the Swimmer’s Ear (a Potomac Valley publication), some minor accident insurance and the opportunity to compete in swim meets. The DCAC fees are $35 per year along with pool dues which are contingent on how often you train.
The group offers 90-minute practices six times per week. The practices, which are run by paid coaches, emphasize stroke technique, building strength, endurance and aerobic conditioning. The team itself is run entirely by swimmers who volunteer their time.
On Saturday, DCAC will host the 20th annual Maryland Swim for Life in Chestertown, MD. The event is sanctioned by United States Masters Swimming and will begin and end at Rolph’s Wharf on the Chester River. Athletes have the choice of competing in 1-, 2-, 3-, 4- or 5-mile open water races and must raise $100 to participate. Proceeds from the event benefit various small organizations that assist individuals and families affected by HIV/AIDS in the D.C. metropolitan area, along with the Chester River Association.
According to Wonkee Moon, co-race director, DCAC plans to welcome about 150 competitors from across the Mid-Atlantic region in hopes of raising $20,000 for local charities.
DCAC has hosted the Swim for Life event for 10 years and has helped raise over $200,000 during that time.
After they wrap up their open water event this weekend, the swimmers will be turning their efforts to the pool as they head to Honolulu where they will compete in the IGLA World Championships from July 6-10. DCAC is sending 42 swimmers who range in age from 23 to 68 and will be competing for the large team trophy.
DCAC won the large team trophy for the first time at the 1995 IGLA Championships in Montreal. Its swimmers continued to win the trophy awarded to the team amassing the most points in eight of the next 10 IGLA Championships where they were eligible for prize. Good luck to the globetrotting swimmers as they try to grab the IGLA Championships for the ninth time. More information on the team can be found at www.swimdcac.org.
Sports
New IOC policy bans trans women from Olympics
New regulation to be in effect at 2028 summer games in Los Angeles
The International Olympic Committee on Thursday announced it will not allow transgender women from competing in female events at the Olympics.
“For all disciplines on the Sports Program of an IOC event, including individual and team sports, eligibility for any Female Category is limited to biological females,” reads the new policy.
The policy states “eligibility for the Female Category is to be determined in the first instance by SRY Gene screening to detect the absence or presence of the SRY Gene.”
“On the basis of the scientific evidence, the IOC considers that the SRY (sex-determining Region Y) Gene is fixed throughout life and represents highly accurate evidence that an athlete has experienced or will experience male sex development,” it reads. “Furthermore, the IOC considers that SRY Gene screening via saliva, cheek swab or blood sample is unintrusive compared to other possible methods. Athletes who screen negative for the SRY gene permanently satisfy this policy’s eligibility criteria for competition in the Female Category.”
The policy states the test “will be a once-in-a-lifetime test” unless “there is reason to believe a negative reading is in error.”
The new regulation will be in place for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
“I understand that this a very sensitive topic,” said IOC President Kirsty Coventry on Thursday in a video. “As a former athlete, I passionately believe in the rights of all Olympians to take part in fair competition.”
“The policy that we have announced is based on science and it has been led by medical experts with the best interests of athletes at its heart. The scientific evidence is very clear: male chromosomes give performance advances in sport that rely on strength, power, or endurance,” she added. “At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat. So, it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category. In addition, in some sports it would simply not be safe.”
(Video courtesy of the IOC)
Laurel Hubbard, a weightlifter from New Zealand, in 2021 became the first trans woman to compete at the Olympics.
Imane Khelif, an Algerian boxer, won a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Khelif later sued JK Rowling and Elon Musk for cyberstalking after they questioned her gender identity.
Ellis Lundholm, a mogul skier from Sweden, this year became the first openly trans athlete to compete in any Winter Olympics when he participated in Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy.
President Donald Trump in February 2025 issued an executive order that bans trans women and girls from female sports teams in the U.S.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee last July banned trans women from competing in female sporting events. Republican lawmakers have demanded the IOC ban trans athletes from women’s athletic competitions.
“I’m grateful the Olympics finally embraced the common sense policy that women’s sports are for women, not for men,” said U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on X.
An IOC spokesperson on Thursday referred the Washington Blade to the press release that announced the new policy.
More than a dozen LGBTQ athletes won medals at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics that ended on Sunday.
Cayla Barnes, Hilary Knight, and Alex Carpenter are LGBTQ members of the U.S. women’s hockey team that won a gold medal after they defeated Canada in overtime. Knight the day before the Feb. 19 match proposed to her girlfriend, Brittany Bowe, an Olympic speed skater.
French ice dancer Guillaume Cizeron, who is gay, and his partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry won gold. American alpine skier Breezy Johnson, who is bisexual, won gold in the women’s downhill. Amber Glenn, who identifies as bisexual and pansexual, was part of the American figure skating team that won gold in the team event.
Swiss freestyle skier Mathilde Gremaud, who is in a relationship with Vali Höll, an Austrian mountain biker, won gold in women’s freeski slopestyle.
Bruce Mouat, who is the captain of the British curling team that won a silver medal, is gay. Six members of the Canadian women’s hockey team — Emily Clark, Erin Ambrose, Emerance Maschmeyer, Brianne Jenner, Laura Stacey, and Marie-Philip Poulin — that won silver are LGBTQ.
Swedish freestyle skier Sandra Naeslund, who is a lesbian, won a bronze medal in ski cross.
Belgian speed skater Tineke den Dulk, who is bisexual, was part of her country’s mixed 2000-meter relay that won bronze. Canadian ice dancer Paul Poirier, who is gay, and his partner, Piper Gilles, won bronze.
Laura Zimmermann, who is queer, is a member of the Swiss women’s hockey team that won bronze when they defeated Sweden.
Outsports.com notes all of the LGBTQ Olympians who competed at the games and who medaled.
Sports
US wins Olympic gold medal in women’s hockey
Team captain Hilary Knight proposed to girlfriend on Wednesday
The U.S. women’s hockey team on Thursday won a gold medal at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Team USA defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime. The game took place a day after Team USA captain Hilary Knight proposed to her girlfriend, Brittany Bowe, an Olympic speed skater.
Cayla Barnes and Alex Carpenter — Knight’s teammates — are also LGBTQ. They are among the more than 40 openly LGBTQ athletes who are competing in the games.
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