Controversy continues to brew for “transgender” swimmer Lia Thomas — a man who identifies as a woman — after winning the women’s 500-yard freestyle event at the NCAA championships in Atlanta.
The crowd at the event was clearly frustrated with the outcome of the race.
According to reporting from The Blaze:
Thomas, who was favored to win the race, finished in 4:33.24 — the fastest time in the NCAA this season, the 11th fastest time in NCAA history, and 16th fastest time ever, SwimSwam said.
But when the swimmers stood on the podium and an announcer named them, the crowd gave second-place finisher Emma Weyant of the University of Virginia decidedly loud cheers and applause.
And then right afterward, when Thomas’ name was announced as the NCAA champion, the cheers died down noticeably — and quite a bit of booing was audible.
According to SwimSwam, someone yelled, “Cheater!” while Thomas was on the block prior to the race. During the race, the outlet said Save Women’s Sports founder Beth Stelzer entered the arena with a large black flag with text saying “Save Women’s Sports.” Stelzer tried to hang the flag over a railing, but an event staffer asked her to remove it “because it was blocking the railing,” SwimSwam reported.
When Thomas finished the race, the outlet said someone in the crowd shouted, “He’s a man!” while some spectators began a “protect girls’ sports” chant.
Emma Weyant, who is only a freshman, clocked a career-best time of 4:34.99 in the 500-yard freestyle — but that wasn’t enough to beat Thomas, who easily passed Weyant by almost two seconds and more than a full body length.
Not incidentally, Weyant won the silver medal in the 400-meter individual medley at the 2020 Olympic Games — years before Lia Thomas was making national headlines.
In addition, following the event, Thomas declined to speak at a press conference, despite the fact that NCAA media guidelines state that “champions of each individual event and relay are required to participate in a press conference in the interview room shortly after the conclusion of their event (following awards podium and optional warm-down swim),” SwimSwam reported.
The outlet also noted that the chair of the NCAA Swimming and Diving Committee declined to comment on Thomas refusing to participate in the press conference, claiming that it will be discussed at a committee meeting set to take place in a few weeks.
Thomas’ win led to increased backlash from those against the University of Pennsylvania transgender swimmer competing against actual women.
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova — who has been a vocal opponent of transgender women competing against biological women in sports — suggested that so-called transgender athletes like Thomas should get an asterisk next to their names.
“The solution perhaps for now is [for Thomas] to swim in another lane, or you can compete, but you don’t get the medal because the [NCAA] rules are not correct,” Navratilova told NewsNationNow. “Right now, the rules are what they are. Maybe put an asterisk there if she starts breaking records left and right, and if Lia goes to the Olympics because she’s hitting her prime now physically.”
