Angie Griffon is a woman who loves to swim. She is, by all accounts, a pretty good competitive swimmer, too. She started swimming to keep her weight down, and proceeded from there to compete in U.S. Masters women's swimming (USMS), and went from win to win as her career as a competitive swimmer took off.
Then, last April, she took second place in her age bracket in a USMS competition. For a 46-year-old who started swimming to manage her weight, that's pretty impressive. The whole thing would have been even more impressive had it been fair, but fair it was not. Because, you see, the 1st-place winner was a man.
The 46-year-old’s dedication to the sport means Griffin does, as she humbly told The Federalist in a phone interview, “all right” at USMS competitions. At first glance, Griffin’s second-place performance last April in her USMS age division’s national championship breaststroke event seemed to fit that bill.
It wasn’t until after the meet that Griffin realized she was only runner-up because a man took first place.
Angie Griffin complained vocally, and we can scarcely blame her for being angered - not just by her being edged out in the swimming competition by a dude, but also because the USMS told her, in effect, to shut up about it, or face a lifetime ban from the sport she loves.
Lost a national title to a man.
— ICONS (@icons_women) March 19, 2026
⁰Spoke up.
⁰Now facing a lifetime ban.
Women’s sports—and free speech—are on the line. pic.twitter.com/HH7DYJNp9W
In the video, Angie says:
I lost a national title. To a man. Last April, and the U.S. Masters swimming nationals, in San Antonio, I unknowingly raced a male in the women's category. I finished second, and watched my title awarded to him. He won five national women's titles that weekend. I spoke up. And now I'm facing a potential lifetime ban from my sport. This same athlete has taken women's titles and prize money across multiple sports. After nationals, it was widely reported that the athlete dominating the women's field was male. Several of us filed protests and posted online. I asked U.S. Masters for fairness, to address a policy, that allows men to compete in women's events. Instead of addressing the policy, they filed a grievance against me, charging me with unsportsmanlike conduct. Not for cheating, not for lying, but for saying men in women's sports is unfair.
World Aquatics has already removed this athlete's times and recognitions from the women's category. But USMS expects me to stay silent, or face losing my own times and recognition. Women's sports can only survive if women are allowed to tell the truth. I'm Angie Griffin. If you believe women's sports are for women, stand with me. Visit savemastersswimming.com and sign a letter.
This is brutally unfair, as is every instance in which real women athletes have been overshadowed by dudes cosplaying as women.
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The U.S. Masters' organization, to coin a phrase, acted stupidly in this matter.
USMS may be a recreational league, but Griffin said that’s not an excuse for injustice.
“To someone, it’s just this, but to us, it’s practice, it’s money spent,” she said. “We all work. We’re not professional athletes. We have full-time jobs. We’re just doing this before and after work. It doesn’t matter if it’s Little League or the playground or anything, it has to do with competitive fairness.”
Griffin filed a formal protest about ("transgender" athlete Hannah) Caldas’ win with USMS. She also penned an op-ed for Swimming World Magazine on May 6, 2025, arguing that “Fairness in Sport is Not Optional: Why USMS Needs to Change Transgender Policy.”
It doesn't matter if USMS is a recreational league or not. The same standards of fairness and sportsmanship should apply. It's simple enough: Men compete against men, and women, against women.
The science is bad enough. I've covered this time and again, from the biological standpoint, about the many advantages men have, physically, over women, particularly in events that require strength and endurance, like swimming. Men have more muscle mass per body weight. They have more fast-twitch muscle fibers, which are specialized muscle fibers that produce fast, powerful contractions. Men have longer and heavier bones, greater cardiovascular capacity; they are, in short, stronger, faster, and have more endurance. It's a difference, not in degree, but in kind. That's why we have sports leagues segregated by sex - because it's horribly unfair otherwise.
But the USMS's attempts to browbeat objecting women athletes are simply shameful. While we can't read minds, it seems very likely that phony "women" athletes like "Hannah" Caldas and the equally infamous "Lia" Thomas do not in fact suffer from the known psychiatric condition of gender dysphoria at all; they are cynically and cruelly taking advantage of a social contagion to gain an unfair advantage, to win titles and accolades to which they are not entitled.
But Angie Griffin has powerful people on her side. Now, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is looking into the matter.
“The policy of US Masters Swimming, which allows men to compete in women’s events, is reprehensible and could violate Texas’s consumer protection laws,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Not only is this policy insulting to female athletes, but it also demonstrates deep contempt for women and may violate Texas law. I will fight to stop these unfair policies and never back down from defending the integrity of women’s sports.”
That's good. We are turning the corner on this issue. More and more states, educational systems, and sports organizations are starting to clamp down on this practice. But Angie Griffin's case tells us that we still have battles left to fight.
