The Cromwell Cup regatta, held yesterday in Cambridge, MA, witnessed an unexpected outcome in the Women’s U23 1x final. Brooke Moss, a rower from Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, clinched the victory with a commanding lead of 29 seconds, finishing with a time of 4:09.4.
Her sole competitor in the final, Sydney Romer from Riverside, trailed behind with a time of 4:38.8. The other competitors, Audrey Brogan and Caitlin Sweeney from Maine Coast, who participated in the time trials, scratched from the final race.
Brooke Moss, a trans competitor, sparked a wave of reactions online following her victory. This development comes in the wake of USRowing’s controversial updated Gender Identity Policy released on December 1. The policy has stirred significant debate and dissent, particularly among former Olympic rowers and advocates for fairness in women’s sports.
The updated policy permits males, regardless of whether they undergo testosterone suppression, to compete in girls’ and women’s events. At the collegiate and elite levels, male rowers competing in the women’s category must comply with World Rowing’s policy, which mandates 12 months of continuous testosterone suppression at no greater than 5 nmol/L—twice the high end of the normal range for females.
Critics argue that science unequivocally demonstrates that testosterone suppression, even for extended periods, does not negate the physiological advantages males have over females. They highlight that every cell has a sex, influencing all aspects of bodily development. It is not biologically possible to change sex at the cellular level, even with hormone therapy. Suppressing testosterone does not eliminate all sex-based advantages males possess, such as greater heart and lung size. As a result, males are generally physically bigger, stronger, and faster. While individual females can outperform some males, at any matched level, many males outperform all females.
The updated USRowing policy, according to its critics, grossly discriminates against female athletes by allowing males to compete in women’s categories. This contentious issue has ignited a broader conversation about fairness and equality in sports, particularly in rowing.
Brooke Moss’s victory at the Cromwell Cup regatta has become a focal point in this ongoing debate, highlighting the complexities and challenges of implementing inclusive policies in competitive sports.
