A third female swimmer has spoken out to voice her frustrations of competing against UPenn transgender swimmer Lia Thomas saying that it is ‘impossible’ to beat her.
Thomas broke two national records when she competed in the female races at the Zippy Invitational earlier this month. She previously competed on the UPenn men’s swim team for three years before transitioning and undergoing hormone treatments for nearly two and a half years.
A female swimmer from Niagara University who wishes to remain anonymous and competed against Thomas at the Zippy Invitational told DailyMail.com of the intimidation and discouragement she felt racing the transgender athlete.
‘Swimming against Lia Thomas was intimidating,’ the senior at Niagara University said. ‘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,’ the collegiate athlete said.
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A third female swimmer has spoken out to voice her frustrations of competing against UPenn transgender swimmer Lia Thomas (Pictured: Lia Thomas competing for UPenn Swim 2021)
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The senior from Niagara University competed against Thomas at the Zippy Invitational earlier this month when Thomas shattered two national records (Pictured: Lia Thomas is seen beating her female competitors)
‘It’s hard working your whole life at 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.’
Thomas was able to switch to the women’s team after completing a year of hormone treatments, in accordance to NCAA regulations.
The transgender athlete shared that the treatments have caused muscle and strength loss making ‘nowhere close’ to her best pre-transition speeds as a male swimmer, which would come within split seconds of shattering some female world records.
‘Swimming against Lia…I knew deep down it was going to be impossible for me to swim as fast as her,’ the discouraged athlete admitted.
‘At the end of the day I respect her decision to complete and I do feel that people are going to have a bad reaction to her life choices which isn’t fair on her. But from an athletic standpoint I do see why a lot of athletes are going to be upset,’ she said.
In the three years Thomas competed on the men’s team at UPenn Will recorded his best times in the 200 Free at 1:39:31, his 500 Free at 4:18:72, and his 1,650 at 14:54:76, according to Outkick.
The current NCAA women’s records for those events are currently held by Olympic gold medalists. Missy Franklin holds the record for the 200 Free at 1:39:10. Katie Ledecky set the records for the 500 Free at 4:24:06 and the 1,650 Free at 15:03:31.
Since competing on the women’s team this season, Thomas has swam the 200 Free at 1:41:93, the 500 Free at 4:34:06, and 1,650 Free at 15:59:71.
Thomas’s winning time of 15:59:71, less than a minute off the world-record pace of 15:03.31 set by US Olympic champion Katie Ledecky in 2017.
Thomas’s win was a record for the Zippy Invitational, and the pool where the event took place. Only five swimmers broke 16 minutes at last season’s NCAA championships.
The winning result also meets the NCAA standard required to qualify, which means Thomas will be automatically entered to compete in the national championship meet in Atlanta in March 2022.
In the week after the Zippy Invitational, two of Thomas’ female UPenn teammates anonymously spoke out about their frustrations of having a transgender teammate.
The first anonymous female swimmer from UPenn told sports website OutKick that she and most of her female teammates are upset because their coach, Mike Schnur, is allowing a transgender athlete to take a woman’s spot because he ‘just really likes winning.’
She would only speak to OutKick on the condition of anonymity because she’s afraid that making comments about a trans athlete will hurt her chances of getting a job after she graduates.
‘Pretty much everyone individually has spoken to our coaches about not liking this,’ the anonymous Ivy League athlete told Outkick in their interview, published Thursday. ‘Our coach just really likes winning. He’s like most coaches. I think secretly everyone just knows it’s the wrong thing to do.’
Schnur did not respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment. He lists his pronouns as ‘he, him, his’ on his UPenn biography page. According to his bio, he has a wife and one child and has coached the swim team for 17 seasons.
Thomas specifically notes Schnur’s support of her transition and switch to the woman’s team calling him one of her ‘biggest supporters and allies in this process since day one.’
Thomas also noted her teammates as a continued support system through her transition and the national criticism she has since faced.
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Thomas has said that she believes it is fair for her to compete against females and does not believe she has an advantage over them
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Thomas previously competed on the UPenn men’s swim team for three years as Will before transitioning. Will’s times are seconds away from shattering women’s world records
‘The team has been unbelievably supportive since the beginning, you know, teammates and coaches. Mike has been one of my biggest supporters and allies in this process since day one and I’m very grateful to have that support from him and from everybody on the team. I feel very supported. Just treated like any other member of the women’s team,’ she said.
But the first unidentified female swimmer told OutKick that support is ‘fake.’
‘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,’ she said.
‘The Ivy League is not a fast league for swimming, so that’s why it’s particularly ridiculous that we could potentially have an NCAA champion. That’s unheard of coming from the Ivy League,’ the swimmer explained.
‘On paper, if Lia Thomas gets back down to Will Thomas’ best times, those numbers are female world records. Faster than all the times [Olympic swimmer] Katie Ledecky went in college. Faster than any other Olympian you can think of. His times in three events are [female] world records.’
Thomas began transitioning in May 2019 and came out to her team in early fall of 2019. After a year of hormone treatments, as required by the NCAA, Thomas submitted medical paperwork documenting her year of treatment and was approved to switch to the women’s team.
She has since been on her daily hormone treatments for nearly two and a half years
‘One year doesn’t mean anything. What about the years of puberty as a male, the male growth you went through as a man?’ the first unnamed female athlete told Outkick.
‘There are a bunch of comments on the Internet about how, “Oh, these girls are just letting this happen. They should just boycott or protest.“ At the end of the day, it’s an individual sport. If we protest it, we’re only hurting ourselves because we’re going to miss out on all that we’ve been working for,’ she pointed out.
‘When I have kids, I kinda hope they’re all boys because if I have any girls that want to play sports in college, good luck. [Their opponents] are all going to be biological men saying that they’re women,’ Thomas’ teammate said.
‘Right now we have one, but what if we had three on the team? There’d be three less girls competing.’
A second female swimmer from the UPenn swim team anonymously voiced her complaints about Thomas’ spot on the women’s team despite the entire team being ‘strongly advised’ not to speak to the media.
Nevertheless, the second teammate stepped forward to explain how UPenn swimmers are ‘angry’ over what has been perceived as a ‘lack of fairness’ as Thomas smashes record after record in the pool.
