La Plata's transvestite, trans, and non-binary swim team competes in the LGBTQIA+ World Aquatics Championships.
Al agua putx is a swimming team made up of trans, transvestite, and non-binary people from La Plata. They are competing in the IGLA+ (International Group of LGBTQIA+ Aquatics) World Aquatics Championships, which are being held for the first time in South America, from November 4th to 6th, also in Buenos Aires.
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LA PLATA, Argentina. Alex Alas met the trans, transvestite, non-binary swimming group of La Plata while chatting in a kiddie pool. He had arrived in Argentina from El Salvador more than 10 years ago. By the age of 6, he was already competing in Central America, and today he is a coach for the Al agua putx team, which participates in the (International Group of LGBTQIA+ Aquatics) World Aquatics Championships
From November 4th to 6th, the IGLA+ Championships will be held for the first time in South America , hosted in Buenos Aires . This annual LGBTQIA+ aquatics event brings together nearly a thousand athletes from around the world to compete in swimming, water polo, diving, open water swimming, artistic swimming, and the distinctive Pink Flamingo event.
The championships, according to the organizers, seek to create a safe and inclusive environment for LGBTQIA+ athletes and allies , fostering a sense of community through a love of water.
How it started: Trans holistic health and sports
The team from La Plata began to take shape at a transmasculine gathering. There, they asked themselves: we want a place to swim. Swimming is a complex space for trans people, due to the exposure of their bodies, the binary changing rooms, and the violence that plagues trans and travesti communities.
Manu was there that day, at the transmasculine gathering convened by the Center for Attention to Victims of Gender Violence of the Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences of the National University of La Plata (CAV). One of the points raised was something basic but not being addressed: the comprehensive health of trans people must include sports.
“We went with the idea of thinking about issues related to the overall health of trans people, specifically transmasculine people. Some of the people there had been raising this need for a space where trans people could swim, understanding that it is perhaps the most difficult sport to access,” Manu tells Presentes .
To get started, they gathered signatures. The idea began to spread within the community. Then the CAV connected them with an outreach project from the Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences at the same university. The project was called “ Towards Inclusive Clubs.”
And from there everything happened very quickly: “One month we were starting to think about it and the next we were already doing the pilot test,” recalls Manu, a year after that beginning.
To the water, whores: towards inclusive clubs
"Towards Inclusive Clubs" project works with clubs in La Plata, Berisso, and Ensenada, as well as other sports organizations and institutions, to prevent and address gender-based violence. They conduct workshops, training sessions, and talks to create tools that also help prevent such violence. "Al agua putx" is part of this project.
“This swimming space arose from a request made to the Extension Department of the Faculty of Humanities by a group of trans people who expressed their desire to be able to swim in the faculty's pool. It is a space dedicated to teaching swimming, like a classroom,” explains Julia Hang, who directs the Extension project.
From that request, they began to envision a project that would involve more than just the use of the pool: “It’s about supporting the community in guaranteeing their right to practice swimming. And also about producing a body of knowledge that we can transmit to the clubs so that they can accommodate transgender people ,” Julia explains.
In 2023 they put together the program in which about 60 people have been participating.
As the group grew, they identified different levels of swimmers: some more beginners and others who were improving every day. They began participating in an LGBT competition circuit and set their sights on a new goal: reaching the World Championships.
“Participating in this tournament is a huge joy. It’s the result of a lot of painstaking work over the past year to maintain a space while the university is being defunded . Jobs are becoming increasingly precarious, and outreach is a volunteer effort,” Julia explains.
The World Cup has 780 participants from 19 countries. Of these, only 80 are transvestites, trans people, and non-binary individuals, and 3 groups are purely transvestite, transgender, and non-binary: one team from Canada, and two from Argentina: one from San Martín and the other from La Plata.
A new category at the World Aquatics Championships
For the first time this year, the Open category is being incorporated into the IGLA+, for those who do not identify in either the female or male category.
For Alex, “the Open category disrupts the biological and binary thinking of most sports. It's a challenge. Being first in this involves a lot of difficulties in terms of the excitement of competing but potentially being disqualified for one reason or another.”
“It’s important to have a category established by time and not by more biological considerations. We’re here to change a regulation that’s been in place for a very long time; it’s a big challenge,” he says.
Damián Garis, who is part of the World Championship organizing committee, told Presentes that in swimming there will be cisgender men's and women's categories, and an Open category. But in other disciplines, such as water polo, diving, or synchronized swimming, all identities are mixed.
“We believe that an event of this nature will have an impact on inspiring people from the community to take up the sport,” says Damián enthusiastically.
For Manu, this is already a reality. The project helped him gain more confidence to put his body on the line. He feels there's a lot of exposure, not only in the pool but also in the search for support. "We spend all our time uploading photos to Instagram to encourage sponsors or networks to connect with, other pools to host us, give interviews, and share everything. At times it's exciting, and at other times exhausting."
“While we say we’ve already won just by being able to participate in an LGBTQ+ World Cup, we still have to go and see what happens in the competition. To be participants, to enjoy it,” Alex concludes.
To collaborate with the team, send your contribution to the alias putxs.rumbo.al.igla or write to their Instagram account.
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