World Cup swimming races designed to accommodate transgender competitors have been abandoned because no one entered.
Open category events – made up of 50 and 100-metre races across all strokes – were due to be part of the competition starting in Berlin on Friday.
But no entries were received for the events, World Aquatics (WA) said.
“Even if there is no current demand at the elite level, the working group is planning to look at the possibility of including open category races at Masters events in the future,” it said.
“The World Aquatics Open Category Working Group will continue its work and engagement with the aquatics community on Open Category events.”
In response, former British Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies – a vocal critic of transgender women competing in women’s sport – posted on social media: “If trans women aren’t going to get the physical benefit of racing females instead of others males, they’re not interested!”
Swimming’s governing body, formerly known as FINA, voted last year to only allow people who had completed their transition by the age of 12 to take part in elite women’s competitions – a deadline criticised as unworkable, given age restrictions in many countries.
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The governing body adopted its “gender inclusion policy” last June during the world championships in Budapest.
The following month, it set up a task force to look into the matter, resulting in the new category.
Transgender competitors had previously been banned from major events like the Olympics and world championships.
