The women on the University of Pennsylvania’s swim team are having their titles and records taken from them by a biological male who claims to be a woman. Two of the girls have spoken up anonymously about the unfairness of the NCAA’s transgender policies, but they must do more: The entire squad should refuse to compete until the school kicks Lia Thomas off the team.
Thomas, a transgender student, competed as a male for three years before deciding to identify as a female. As part of the Quakers’ men’s team, Thomas earned all sorts of accolades. So it should come as no surprise that he is smashing records left and right now that he is competing against women, who literally cannot compete physically. In the 1,650-yard freestyle final, for example, Thomas beat the second-best swimmer, Penn’s Anna Kalandadze, by 38 seconds. That’s like putting a teenage girl up against a 250-pound linebacker and expecting her to hold a block: She wouldn’t even have a chance.
“They feel so discouraged because no matter how much work they put in it, they’re going to lose. Usually, they can get behind the blocks and know they out-trained all their competitors and they’re going to win and give it all they’ve got,” a source told Outkick. “Now they’re having to go behind the blocks knowing no matter what, they do not have the chance to win.”
One of the swimmers on Penn’s team, who remained anonymous, told Fox News most of her peers have complained to Coach Mike Schnur about the disadvantage they now face. Everyone “secretly … just knows it’s the wrong thing to do,” she said, but no one seems willing to do anything about it. Penn’s administration has backed Thomas publicly and warned the girls against talking to the media about the situation. Schnur has refused to comment on the controversy, telling the girls “the situation is out of his hands,” according to another swimmer.
But there is a solution. Penn’s female swimmers could boycott all future competitions that include Thomas and refuse to compete for a school that will not guarantee them the standard of fairness that is their right.
Of course, this would require courage — and lots of it. The school could retaliate and revoke athletic scholarships, and individual swimmers might lose opportunities to swim professionally if they don’t compete. There would also be immense backlash from the Left, which seeks to punish anyone who challenges transgender orthodoxy.
But what’s the alternative? Not one girl on that team will win a race as long as Thomas is competing against them, which means they are already losing athletic and professional opportunities because they cannot beat him. And if women don’t begin to stand up to this radicalism now, while it’s still in its infancy, women’s sports as we know them will be gone for good. There will be a Thomas on every single high school and college and professional female sports team in the country — and think of how many girls will have lost athletic opportunities as a result.
This isn’t just about Penn’s swim team or its records. This is about equality and the female identity, and whether we’ll let both be trampled just because a militant sect believes “progress” demands it. Penn’s female swimmers have the chance to stand up for themselves and future generations of female athletes. Let’s hope they take it.
