Hannah Caldas Faces Five-Year Suspension Over Chromosomal Test Refusal
World Aquatics has handed American Masters swimmer Hannah Caldas a five-year suspension due to her failure to take a chromosomal test that would verify biological sex, reports BritPanorama.
The 48-year-old swimmer will be banned until October 2030, with all competitive results from the past three years invalidated. The governing body announced this sanction after Caldas declined to undergo the chromosomal test, which is intended to determine whether an athlete is biologically male or female.
This refusal means that all her achievements, including multiple championship victories dating back to 2022, have now been expunged from the record books. Caldas had recently enjoyed notable success, claiming the women’s 100m freestyle title for her age group and securing additional medals at the World Aquatics Masters Championships in Doha.
This winning streak escalated further after she topped the podium in all five individual races at the US Masters Swimming Spring National Championship earlier this year. Despite her accolades, her participation was scrutinised due to past competitions in men’s events from 2002 to 2004.
In August, US Masters Swimming reviewed her eligibility and concluded she could compete in women’s categories, citing that she was assigned female at birth and identifies as female. However, World Aquatics has taken a different stance, insisting on compliance with their testing protocols.
Caldas has voiced strong opposition to the tests, describing them as “invasive and expensive procedures,” emphasizing that her insurance does not cover the costs under the claim that it is not medically necessary. “Not even US Masters Swimming, the national governing body for recreational adult swimming in the US, demands this for any of its events,” she noted.
🏊♂️Hugo “Hannah/Ana” Caldas explained his refusal to take a simple cheek-swab sex-verification test partly as a matter of finances.
ICONS offers to cover the (approximately $100) cost to remove the financial burden from Caldas’ shoulders and allow verification of his genetic sex… https://t.co/Wi4Wt9QA1I pic.twitter.com/CO3iViM6gp
— ICONS (@icons_women) October 22, 2025
She further articulated, “But if a five-year suspension is the price I must pay to protect my most intimate medical information, then it’s a price I am happy to pay for myself, and for every other woman who does not want to submit to highly invasive medical testing just to swim in an older-adult competition.”
After more than 30 years in competitive swimming, Caldas has announced she will withdraw from the sport entirely. “I have been swimming in sanctioned events for over 30 years, and I am prepared to let it all go. My life and privacy have been invaded enough. It is time to prioritise my health and personal safety.”
The swimmer came tantalisingly close to Olympic glory, narrowly missing out on qualifying for Portugal at the 2012 London Games by just 0.3 seconds in the women’s 50m freestyle. Outside of swimming, Caldas has found acclaim in other sports, winning multiple CrossFit competitions globally and matching the women’s 500m indoor rowing world record four years ago.
As the conversation around gender standards in sports continues to evolve, Caldas’s case serves as a critical reminder of the complexities at the intersection of athletics and personal rights, pushing the boundaries of dialogue within and beyond swimming circles.
