An “open category” swimming event designed to accommodate transgender athletes was canceled in Germany due to a complete lack of interest and lack of participants.

The event was initially announced as part of the Berlin Swimming World Cup but was dropped after receiving “zero” entries.

World Aquatics (formerly known as FINA) had introduced the “open category” concept in response to its “gender inclusion policy,” which faced criticism from LGBTQ activists.

The policy, established in 2022, allowed only transgender women who began transitioning before age 12 to compete in women’s categories.

The canceled event was expected to include 50-meter and 100-meter races across all strokes in timed trials. Despite the lack of interest, World Aquatics stated that they would continue to explore the possibility of open category events in the future, potentially at Masters events.

“The World Aquatics Open Category Working Group will continue its work and engagement with the aquatics community on Open Category events. 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,” they said.

The focus on transgender athletes in swimming gained attention following Lia Thomas, a male swimmer who identifies as a female, winning a women’s championship at the 2022 NCAA Championships. This victory sparked a national debate about transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports.

World Aquatics had previously approved its gender policy in 2022 and proposed an “open competition policy” alongside a new working group to explore effective ways to establish this new category.