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{"id":499178,"date":"2022-03-09T07:45:20","date_gmt":"2022-03-09T14:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=499178"},"modified":"2022-03-09T09:50:49","modified_gmt":"2022-03-09T16:50:49","slug":"lia-thomas-teammate-situation-is-unfair-and-ncaa-is-discriminating-against-cisgender-women-locker-room-discomfort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/lia-thomas-teammate-situation-is-unfair-and-ncaa-is-discriminating-against-cisgender-women-locker-room-discomfort\/","title":{"rendered":"Lia Thomas Teammate: Situation is ‘Unfair’ and NCAA is ‘Discriminating Against Cisgender Women’; Locker Room Discomfort"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Penn teammate of Lia Thomas<\/strong> has spoken out about the fairness of transgender swimming, specifically Thomas.<\/p>\n

The swimmer spoke to News Nation on the condition of anonymity and her on-air interview had her likeness and voice changed to keep that anonymity since Penn and the Ivy League have kept their athletes from speaking about the controversy surrounding Lia Thomas.<\/p>\n

Thomas formerly competed as a member of Penn\u2019s men\u2019s squad for three years, before transitioning to a woman during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the beginning of the 2021-22 season, Thomas started to compete for the Penn women\u2019s team, having met the NCAA\u2019s transgender-participation condition of one year of hormone-suppressant therapy. That requirement, which was based on outdated science, has since been changed. The NCAA initially indicated it would follow USA Swimming guidelines for transgender inclusion, but when the governing body for the sport in the United States announced stringent parameters, the NCAA balked.<\/p>\n

A number of parents of Penn swimmers have spoken out about this issue, as well as former and a few current swimmers. But few teammates have gone on the record and the most comprehensive has been this News Nation interview.<\/a><\/p>\n

Thomas\u2019 teammate reiterated, and the article did as well, that she supports Lia Thomas\u2019 transition, but feels that her competing in women\u2019s swimming is \u201cunfair.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first word that comes to my mind is insane,\u201d the swimmer told NewsNation. \u201cI feel like it\u2019s something that\u2019s so basic that people have just somehow managed to twist and make (it) way more complicated than it should have ever been.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not like people are discriminating against Lia and not allowing her to swim. She identified as a woman and competed on the men\u2019s team. That was the choice she was making. Then to compete with the women\u2019s team. That is something that cisgender women are not choosing. There are categories for a reason. They make sense and ensure fairness. \u2026 The NCAA has not said anything, and by not saying anything, they are discriminating against cisgender women.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch the full interview here<\/a><\/p>\n

Another issue that was broached in the interview was the locker room situation with Thomas, who although she has transitioned to being female hormonally and identified as a woman, still has male body parts, according to the report.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is definitely uncomfortable and has been expressed to our coach and members of the athletic department that people are uncomfortable with it,\u201d the teammate said. \u201cWe were basically told to, \u2018suck it up.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Lia Thomas has the top seed at the women\u2019s<\/a> NCAA Championships in the 500 freestyle and 200 freestyle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re going to look at the people who are making these decisions and were in charge and kind of laugh at them,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd then just ask, \u2018What were you doing? You had the power to change that and you chose not to. You\u2019re kind of a coward for that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"