Sports
Synchronized swimmer finds hope after decades of exile
Athlete Bill May returns to competition years after gender ban hobbled his dreams
Bill May and partner Kanako Spendlove in performance. (Photo by Liz Corman Photography; used with permission)
Sometimes it just takes one person to initiate a major change. But it takes time. In the world of synchronized swimming, that person is Bill May.
May, who left home at age 16 to live with a host family in Santa Clara, Calif., where he could train, has for years been an advocate for male inclusion in the heretofore all-female world of the sport. And finally, there are signs that the tide is turning.
During a panel discussion at the recent International Swimming Federation (known as FINA or the Federation Internationale de Natation) congress in Ontario, Canada, longtime sports activist and Olympic swimming gold medalist, Donna de Varona, pointed out that diversity will result in growth for the aquatics community.
Synchronized swimming remains as the only FINA sport not equally represented by both sexes. As of the most recent 2016 Olympics in Rio, men are not allowed to compete in synchronized swimming events.
May started the sport by training and performing with two New York teams, the Syracuse Synchro Cats and the Oswego Lakettes. After moving to California, he tried out for the nationally renowned Santa Clara Aquamaids and earned a spot on their junior squad.
It was 1996 and as a young gay man, he was undaunted by the challenges facing him in a sport that wasn’t accepting of men. He wouldn’t be allowed to compete in most sanctioned events with his teammates because of his gender.
“I was pretty stubborn and was determined to stay in the sport I loved,” May says. “I still wanted to do it even if it meant I would never be allowed to compete in the Olympics. I took inspiration from friends on the swim team that continued to compete even though they would never make it to the Olympic level.”
May gained approval from FINA to compete in duet events in several competitions such as the 1998 Goodwill Games (silver), the 1999 Swiss Open (gold) and the 1999 French Open (gold). He was named the U.S. Synchronized Swimming Athlete of the Year in 1998 and 1999 and would go onto win the Grand Slam at the 2000 Jantzen Nationals.
Because of the lack of support he received from his own sport’s national federation, he was not allowed to compete at the 2004 Athens Olympics as they never filed for an inclusion. The President of the United States Synchronized Swimming Federation at the time, Ginny Jasontek, stated, “We cannot allow men to compete in a women’s sport.”
Bill May traveled to Athens in 2004 as a spectator to cheer on his teammates and then gracefully retired from the sport. By the next year, he was performing five days a week, two shows a night in the Las Vegas water-based production “O” by Cirque Du Soleil.
Fast-forward to November, 2014 when the news arrived that FINA had passed an inclusion to allow for the first time, two mixed-duet events at the 2015 FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia. It was a major first step for a possible inclusion in future Olympics. A mad scramble ensued to reunite May with his former free routine partner, Kristina Lum Underwood, and find a new partner in Christina Jones for the technical routine.
With only eight months to train and with Underwood seven months pregnant, they had their work cut out for them. When the time came, they faced down nine teams on the world stage in Kazan with May and Jones winning the gold in the mixed-duet technical routine and May and Underwood taking the silver in the mixed-duet free routine. It was a long-awaited triumph just for May to compete in a sanctioned synchro world championships.
“After spending two weeks at the world championships, I realized that I wanted to see more mixed-duet teams competing and I wanted to see more mixed teams swimming differently than their female counterparts,” May says.
Now that the ball is rolling again, May is determined to push for mixed duets in the Olympics. He is one of many people who are working with U.S. Synchronized Swimming, FINA and the International Olympic Committee for inclusion. The 2016 Rio Olympics have passed by and the target is now for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dGXpgoIHeU
Both of May’s mixed-duet partners retired after the 2015 World Championships in Kazan and he began the search for a new partner shortly after returning to Las Vegas. He didn’t have to search far as his future duet partner had been swimming right in front of him all along.
Kanako Kitao Spendlove won a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics in the synchro team competition for Japan. They had originally met at a junior open meet at the America Cup in 1996. She had been working with May at Cirque for almost 10 years and gave up her Japanese citizenship in December 2015 and became his new mixed-duet partner.
In their first competition together at the UANA Pan American Championships in Puerto Rico last September, they brought home the gold for the United States in the mixed-duet free routine. They have been named to the U.S. national synchro team through 2020.
Along with aiming for a chance to be included in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, May and Spendlove are hoping to propose new rules and requirements for mixed duets.
“The mixed-duet free program shouldn’t be judged the same way as same-sex duets. We have connections, lifts and throws that they don’t include in same-sex duets,” May says. “What we are doing takes more strength not to mention that the roles are different, as opposed to being a mirror image. We also don’t want to be a direct comparison to same-sex duets as it would be a hindrance to growth.”
A few months after their success in Puerto Rico, May and Spendlove headed to Panama to host a mixed-duet synchro clinic. It was an attempt to draw more of the Americas into the sport as it is already gaining momentum in Europe.
Currently the duo is training four hours a day, six days a week in the pool along with their duties performing with Cirque. Their next big competition is the FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary in July where they will compete in both the technical and free mixed duets. Hopefully, that will bring them a step closer to inclusion in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“Both of us love this sport, love performing and want to add a new dynamic to synchro,” May says. “We want to raise the level of athleticism and artistry to new heights.”
Bill May and partner Kanako Spendlove during a training session. (Photo by Kevin Majoros)
Sports
English soccer bans transgender women from women’s teams
British Supreme Court last month ruled legal definition of woman limited to ‘biological women’
The organization that governs English soccer on Thursday announced it will no longer allow transgender women to play on women’s teams.
The British Supreme Court on April 16 ruled the legal definition of a woman is limited to “biological women” and does not include trans women. The Football Association’s announcement, which cites the ruling, notes its new policy will take effect on June 1.
“As the governing body of the national sport, our role is to make football accessible to as many people as possible, operating within the law and international football policy defined by UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) and FIFA,” said the Football Association in a statement that announced the policy change. “Our current policy, which allows transgender women to participate in the women’s game, was based on this principle and supported by expert legal advice.”
“This is a complex subject, and our position has always been that if there was a material change in law, science, or the operation of the policy in grassroots football then we would review it and change it if necessary,” added the Football Association.
The Football Association also acknowledged the new policy “will be difficult for people who simply want to play the game they love in the gender by which they identify.”
“We are contacting the registered transgender women currently playing to explain the changes and how they can continue to stay involved in the game,” it said.
The Football Association told the BBC there were “fewer than 30 transgender women registered among millions of amateur players” and there are “no registered transgender women in the professional game” in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The Scottish Football Association, which governs soccer in Scotland, is expected to also ban trans women from women’s teams.
FIFA has announced Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup, despite concerns over its human rights record that includes the death penalty for homosexuality.
The Associated Press reported FIFA confirmed the decision on Dec. 18. The AP noted Saudi Arabia is the only country that bid to host the 2034 World Cup.
“This is a historic moment for Saudi Arabia and a dream come true for all our 32 million people who simply love the game,” said Sport Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al- Faisal, who is also president of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, in a statement the Saudi Press Agency posted to its website.
Saudi Arabia is among the handful of countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain punishable by death.
A U.S. intelligence report concluded Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “likely approved” the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018. A federal judge in 2022 dismissed a lawsuit against Prince Mohammed after the Biden-Harris administration said he was immune to the lawsuit because he is the country’s prime minister.
Human rights activists have also criticized the Saudi government over the treatment of women, migrant workers, and other groups in the country.
“No one should be surprised by this,” Cyd Zeigler, Jr., co-founder of Outsports.com, an LGBTQ sports website, told the Washington Blade in an email after FIFA confirmed Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup. “FIFA, the International Olympic Committee, and many other world governing bodies routinely turn to authoritarian countries with terrible human-rights records to host major sporting events. There are simply few other countries willing to spend the billions of dollars it takes to build the needed infrastructure.”
Peter Tatchell, a long-time LGBTQ activist from the U.K. who is director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, in a statement described FIFA’s decision as “a betrayal of the values that football should stand for: Inclusivity, fairness, and respect for human rights.”
“This is not about football; it’s about sportswashing,” said Tatchell. “The Saudi regime is using the World Cup to launder its international image and distract from its brutal abuses. By granting them this platform, FIFA is complicit in whitewashing their crimes.”
Qatar, which borders Saudi Arabia, hosted the 2022 World Cup.
Consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized in Qatar.
“Saudi Arabia was the only country to bid for the 2034 FIFA World Cup,” said Zeigler. “So, until FIFA, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and other governing bodies ban major human-rights violators from hosting, we’ll continue to see events like this in Saudi Arabia, China, Qatar, and other countries with terrible LGBTQ rights issues.”
The Blade has reached out to FIFA and the Saudi government for comment.
Sports
Controversy grows over member of Calif. university’s women’s volleyball team
Coach suspended, NCAA sued, more rivals forfeit
San Jose State University’s women volleyball team has collected yet another W by forfeit — its seventh so far this season — as controversy swirls around one player on its roster. She’s one of the seniors, and she has been dragged in the media by her own co-captain, who outed her as transgender.
The Washington Blade is not naming this student athlete since neither she nor the school have confirmed or even commented on her gender identity.
SJSU visited San Diego last weekend for a match before the Aztecs’ biggest home crowd of the season — including protesters waving “Save Women’s Sports” banners and booing one player on the Spartans team in particular: The woman who is reported to be trans.
Security was tight, with metal detectors and extra guards and police officers present. Video posted to YouTube by a right-wing sports media site — which names the player — shows an angry fan arguing with security about his First Amendment rights.
Video recorded during Nov. 9’s game shows a player for San Diego was injured following a spike by the player rumored to be trans, and had to be helped off the court. However, the video clearly shows that player was injured by landing poorly on one foot, not as a result of the spike.
The Aztecs defeated the Spartans 3-1, but San Jose has still punched its ticket to the conference finals, thanks to its record number of forfeits.
Wyoming was set to visit SJSU Thursday, but for the second time is joining other universities that have forfeited games against the Spartans, all without providing a reason. Boise State announced it will forfeit an upcoming match set for Nov. 21, its second forfeit against SJSU.
In September, the Spartans’ co-captain, senior Brooke Slusser, outed her own teammate, the player at the center of this controversy, in joining a federal lawsuit against the NCAA spearheaded by anti-trans inclusion activist and former college athlete Riley Gaines.
Slusser said in the lawsuit and in subsequent interviews that the player in question shouldn’t be on her team. The suit claims the NCAA’s policy on trans athletes violates Title IX by allowing “men” to compete in women’s sports and use women’s locker rooms where they display “full male genitalia.”
The NCAA policy for trans athletes participating in women’s volleyball aligns with that of USA Volleyball, which requires trans female athletes to suppress their testosterone below 10 nmol/L for a period of one year before competition. That is also how the NCAA determines eligibility. SJSU has stated repeatedly that all its players are eligible.
The lawsuit also asks the NCAA to revoke any titles or records won by trans female athletes in women’s competitions, which seems to be specifically aimed at stripping out trans NCAA champions Lia Thomas and CeCé Telfer of their titles in swimming and track and field, respectively.
Prior to this season, the player rumored to be trans did not attract any attention other than being a successful starter, like Slusser. But now that she is in the media spotlight, Slusser has come forward to tell right wing media, including Megyn Kelly, why she feels another woman two inches taller than she is poses a danger.
“I don’t feel safe,” Slusser said on “The Megyn Kelly Show” last month. “I’ve gone to my coaches and said I refuse to play against [her] … It’s not safe.”
In the video, both Kelly and Slusser refer to the player as “him” and a “man,” and name her.
Now comes another twist: San Jose State University suspended associate head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose with pay, indefinitely, after she filed a Title IX complaint against SJSU. She claims the player Slusser identified as trans conspired with an opponent to help the team lose a match and injure Slusser. Batie-Smoose named the player in question in her complaint and on Sept. 23, joined the same lawsuit that Slusser is now a part of.
“Safety is being taken away from women,” Batie-Smoose told Fox News. “Fair play is taken away from women. We need more and more people to do this and fight this fight because women’s sports, as we know it right now will be forever changed.”
Media reporting on the suspension, including Fox News, continue to name the athlete in question, with some also reporting what they say is the athlete’s birth name.
San Jose State released a statement following the suspension of Batie-Smoose: “The associate head coach of the San Jose State University women’s volleyball team is not with the team at this time, and we will not provide further information on this matter,” the team said.
SJSU Coach Todd Kress told ESPN that reports saying that any member of the Spartans colluded with their opponent are “littered with lies.”
The Spartans are currently among the top six finishers in the Mountain West Conference that will qualify to compete in the conference tournament scheduled for Nov. 27-30.
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