World Aquatics Suspends Ana Caldas Despite USMS Clearance

World Aquatics has suspended transgender swimmer Ana (Hannah) Caldas for five years, until October 2030, and stripped her competitive results from June 2022 through October 2024 after she refused to undergo a chromosomal gender‑verification test. The action follows Caldas’s dominant performances at the U.S. Masters Spring National Championship and at Masters Worlds, which drew criticism and prompted an investigation that involved Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Earlier this year U.S. Masters Swimming reviewed the case and cleared Caldas after finding documents indicating she was assigned female at birth. World Aquatics’ Aquatics Integrity Unit said Caldas violated its integrity code and cited the federation’s 2022 gender‑eligibility rules restricting transgender women to those who transitioned before puberty. Caldas said chromosomal testing is invasive, expensive and not covered by her insurance and that she accepted the suspension to protect her medical privacy, while critics said the ban upholds fairness in women’s sport.