Earlier this season, biological male Lia Thomas was smashing women’s records in the pool. Two weeks ago, the University of Pennsylvania swimmer looked like he was “coasting” and “barely trying” as he posted more modest wins in a meet with Dartmouth and Yale. And this past weekend in Boston against Harvard, Thomas’s wins were by even slimmer margins.
Like transgender ideology, Thomas’s results aren’t all what they seem.
And heaping more perplexity on the ongoing saga are the unfolding events outside of the pool.
The controversial wins posted by the Palo Alto, CA native this season spurred the NCAA last week to review its guidelines on male-to-female trans athletes. But the NCAA essentially passed the buck with it’s new guidelines, saying transgender participation for each sport will be drawn up by each respective governing body.
Enter USA Swimming.
In a statement released last Thursday, and the day after the NCAA’s ‘hand-washing’ of the situation, swimming’s governing body said it “firmly believes in inclusivity and the opportunity for all athletes to experience the sport of swimming in a manner consistent with their gender identity and expression.” That said, the organization left the door open to further investigation, stating “We also strongly believe in competitive equity, and, like many, are doing our best to learn and educate ourselves on the appropriate balance in this space.” USA Swimming is expected to release a new policy “shortly” on the issue of biological men who identify as women competing against biological females.
Thomas, who competed on the men’s team during his first three years at UPenn, has been roundly criticized by some of his teammates. But due to a toxic environment which forbids any criticism of trans people, for fear of being labelled a bigot or being ‘cancelled’, the teammates have spoken off the record. Said one teammate, “She (Thomas) laughs about it and mocks the situation. Instead of caring or showing that she cares about what she’s doing or what she’s doing to her teammates, she’s not sympathetic or empathetic at all. Lia never addressed our team. She never asked if it was OK. She never asked how we felt.”
One person who has not been afraid to speak up and speak out, is Caitlyn Jenner. Jenner, who is a transgender Republican and–as Bruce Jenner–won Olympic decathlon gold at the ’76 Games in Montreal, is clearly against Lia Thomas being permitted to swim against biological women.
“She knows when she’s swimming she’s beating the competition by two laps,” Jenner pointed out on Fox News. “She was born a biological boy, she was raised as a biological boy. Her cardiovascular system is bigger, her respiratory system is bigger, her hands are bigger, she can swim faster. That’s a known.”
“All of this woke world that we are living in right now is not working,” said Jenner. “I feel sorry for the other athletes that are out there, especially at Penn or anybody she’s competing against because in the woke world you have to say, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is great.’
“No, it’s not,” Jenner shot back. “We need to protect women’s sports.”