Footage reportedly shows a transgender swimmer from the University of Pennsylvania crushing the competition in a women’s swimming race in early December.
Lia Thomas, a biologically male competitor on UPenn’s Women’s Swimming & Diving team, reportedly defeated the female competitors in the 1650 by 38 seconds ahead of the second-place winner at the University of Akron’s Zippy Invitational. The 22-year-old reportedly won the 500 free by twelve seconds and the 200 free by seven seconds.
WATCH:
Just to show you how absurd this is. Here’s the trans swimmer “Lia” Thomas crushing all of the female competitors by 40 seconds. This is what that looks like in real time. A total farce.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) December 15, 2021
Thomas broke two national records when competing at the Zippy Invitational earlier this month, according to the Daily Mail. An anonymous swimmer from Niagara University described the discouragement and “intimidation” she felt for having to compete against Thomas. (RELATED: International Olympic Committee Says Biological Male Trans Athletes Should Not Have To Lower Testosterone To Compete In Women’s Events)
“Swimming against Lia Thomas was intimidating,” she told the outlet. “It was hard going into a race knowing there was no way I was going to get first. I knew I could drop my time but I also knew there was no way I would physically be able to beat her in the race or even catch up to her.”
“It’s hard working your whole life in a sport and going to big competitions and seeing someone who is more physically talented than you, however it is even more discouraging to have them right next to you and knowing you won’t ever be on the same physical level as them.”
This season is the first time Thomas has competed in the women’s team after competing on the men’s team for three years, the outlet reported. Thomas’ best recorded times were 1:39:10 for the 200m Free on the men’s team and also won the 500 Free while competing against Villanova and competed in eight regular-season events in 2019-2020.
On the women’s team, Thomas’ best time averages at 1:41:93 for the same length, according to the outlet.
An anonymous teammate said the girls are frustrated because their coach, Mike Schnur, is allowing a biological man to prevent their chances of earning a top position for the sake of winning national competitions.
“Pretty much everyone individually has spoken to our coaches about not liking this. Our coach just really likes winning. He’s like most coaches. I think secretly everyone just knows it’s the wrong thing to do,” she told Outkick Thursday.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Policy for Transgender Student-Athlete Participation guidelines require transgender females to complete a one calendar year of testosterone suppression treatment, designed to block the production of male hormones, Newsweek reported.
A March Politico/Morning Consult poll found that 53% of American voters support banning transgender athletes from women’s sports.