Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, from the University of Pennsylvania (USA), has broken a series of records in women’s swimming, which has generated discontent among her teammates, according to an anonymous report by one swimmer.
Lia Thomas, 22, who competed as a man for three years, recently broke records in the country’s university competitions in the 200-meter and 500-meter freestyle categories. Last week, Thomas set a new record in the 1650 meters, finishing 38 seconds ahead of second place.
A colleague from the University of Pennsylvania women’s swim team reported to the website outkick that most team members have already expressed displeasure about the situation to their coach, Mike Schnur.
“Basically everyone individually has talked to our coaches to say they don’t like it,” said the swimmer, on condition of anonymity, fearing her opinion would hurt her job prospects after graduation. “Our coach is very fond of winning. He’s like most coaches. I think secretly everyone knows this is the wrong thing to do.”
“When the whole team is together, we have to say, ‘Oh my God, Lia, you’re great, you’re amazing.’ It’s all so fake,” said the athlete.
The National Association of College Athletics (NCAA) allows transgender athletes to participate in competitions as women after completing a year of testosterone suppression treatment.
According to the athlete who spoke with Outkick, if Lia Thomas achieves her best times that she recorded while competing as a man, she will have broken women’s world records.
“If Lia Thomas goes back to Will Thomas’ best times, those numbers are women’s world records. [a nadadora e medalhista olímpica americana] Katie Ledecky swam racing for college. Faster than any other Olympic athlete you can imagine. His times in three events are world records [femininos].”
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