Trans Swimmer’s Teammates Wanted to Boycott Meet, but Feared Dire Consequences

A man who has decided to portray himself as female, and has been competing on the University of Pennsylvania’s women’s swim team after several years on the men’s team, already has caused disruptions in the sport.

Article by Bob Unruh from our news partners at WND News Center.

It was reported that an official with USA Swimming resigned in protest over the new agenda from Lia Thomas, who competed as a male for three years before identifying and competing as a woman.

He also has destroyed a long list of women’s records for swim events.

WND columnist Dennis Prager said, “Perhaps the most obvious moral and intellectual absurdity of all is the notion that Lia Thomas, a member of the University of Pennsylvania’s women’s swim team, won fairly in the team’s recent meet against the Cornell University women’s swim team.”

“You see, Lia Thomas was a man until two years ago, when he announced that she is really a woman.”

He explained, “Now, neither I nor most fair-minded people care if Lia Thomas considers herself a woman. Many of us are even prepared to refer to Lia as ‘she’ – especially if she dresses, acts and looks like a woman. (For the record, most people who watch Lia’s interview online and did not know that Lia claims to be a woman would assume that they are watching a man.) But no fair-minded person can accept that Lia should be allowed to join a women’s swim team and compete against female teammates and against other women’s swim teams.”

Now Thomas’ disruptions have extended to members of the school’s women’s team. The Daily Mail explained swimmers on the team “were so upset over the advantages of transgender teammate Lia Thomas they considered boycotting their final home meet of the season.”

But they fear being labeled if they conduct any protest.

A source told the publication, “They’ve been ignored by both Penn and the NCAA, and there is a feeling among some of the girls that they should make some sort of statement, seize the opportunity while they have a spotlight on them to make their feelings about the issue known.”

The team has discussed protesting the Jan. 8 event, but decided against a boycott “for fear that it would keep them out of the Ivy League championship, where the team’s top 17 swimmers – out of a total of 41 – will compete in February.”

“They’re reluctant to jeopardize their opportunity to make the elite Ivy League squad,” the paper said the source reported.

The source told the Daily Mail Thomas likely will blow away the competition, but that the crowd probably will cheer more for the second-place finisher than for Thomas.

Teammates have spoken, but only anonymously, about their frustrations of having Thomas in the competition.

They cited the final home meet, which traditionally is supposed to be recognition for all the seniors.

The event will be, a source reported, like recent meets, where “Lia will finish and nobody will give a s—. Then when the first biological female finishes, there will be a huge eruption of applause.”

One parent said, “If it were me, I’d step up with a sign on my chest stating something like – ‘NCAA – Speak up. We need answers.’ But it’s possible the swimmers may end up doing nothing because they are so afraid to be perceived as transphobic.”

The Mail also said it learned parents of about 10 swimmers on the team are demanding the NCAA change rules that have permitted Thomas to dominate.

“At stake here is the integrity of women’s sports,” the parents told the NCAA in a letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Mail. “The precedent being set – one in which women do not have a protected and equitable space to compete – is a direct threat to female athletes in every sport. What are the boundaries? How is this in line with the NCAA’s commitment to providing a fair environment for student-athletes?”

Thomas’ agenda also has been criticized by Olympic swimming champion Nancy Hogshead-Makar, tennis great Martina Navratilova retweeted the article, tennis champ Chris Evert and others.