Biological female athletes on the women's swimming team at the University of Pennsylvania is sharing thoughts on their trangender teammate Lia Thomas, a biologically male swimmer who recently broke numerous records.
Thomas made headlines in November after the biologically male athlete shattered women's swimming records. The trans athlete had competed as a man for three years on the men's swimming team and excelled so much that he was eligible to make second-team All-Ivy League in the 2018-2019 swimming season.
Last week, one female-born athlete on the UPenn's women's swimming team anonymously spoke out against Thomas, claiming that having a trans athlete on the women's team is "the wrong thing to do," The Blaze reported. The female team member said, "Pretty much everyone individually has spoken to our coaches about not liking this."
"Our coach [Mike Schnur] just really likes winning. He's like most coaches," the female UPenn swimmer lamented. "I think secretly everyone just knows it's the wrong thing to do."
The female UPenn swimmer admitted they also had to put up a facade when dealing with the trans athlete, saying, "When the whole team is together, we have to be like, 'Oh my gosh, go Lia, that's great, you're amazing.' It's very fake."
Now, another female UPenn swimmer on the women's team has spoken out against Thomas, saying that the entire women's team is "angry" over the unfair situation that the school allowed.
The new comments came after a team meeting held by officials, who "strongly advised" the women's team not to speak to the media about Thomas. The second female swim team member spoke out however, because she believed it was important that people knew how she and her teammates felt about Thomas breaking women's records.
"They feel so discouraged because no matter how much work they put in it, they're going to lose," the second female UPenn swimmer told Outkick. "Usually, they can get behind the blocks and know they out-trained all their competitors and they're going to win and give it all they've got."
The unnamed female swimmer added that the biologically female team members now have to "go behind the blocks" with full knowledge that they "do not have the chance to win," which she believed is "really getting to everyone."
The second UPenn swimmer who spoke out against the trans athlete added that Thomas is also bragging about breaking records and being number one in the entire U.S. She remarked, "Well, obviously she's No. 1 in the country because she's at a clear physical advantage after having gone through male puberty and getting to train with testosterone for years. Of course you're No. 1 in the country when you're beating a bunch of females. That's not something to brag about."
The female swimmer lamented about how "upsetting" it was for her and her female-born teammates because they put in so much hard work individually and collectively, but adding in Thomas to the mix and they were being "overshadowed" by the biological male athlete.
According to CBN News, Thomas recently set a new 500 freestyle Ivy League record and set the country's best time in 200 freestyle. The trans athlete also set a pool record in the 1650-yard freestyle.
