Mick Hartley

Remember that University of Pennsylvania swimmer who was breaking all the women's records because he was a man who transitioned? Lia Thomas he calls himself, though he was an unremarkable swimmer called Will Thomas before he saw the light and realised how he could easily get to be a winner. Abigail Shrier cited the case in her Princeton talk that I linked to yesterday, as one of the more egregious examples of transwomen in girls' sports.

Already one women has spoken anonymously about the reaction of Thomas's team mates:

The Penn swimmer said that the members of the team have been vocal with the coaches regarding the fact that they aren’t entirely comfortable with Thomas being on the women’s team.

“Pretty much everyone individually has spoken to our coaches about not liking this,” the Penn swimmer told OutKick. “Our coach (Mike Schnur) just really likes winning. He’s like most coaches. I think secretly everyone just knows it’s the wrong thing to do.

“When the whole team is together, we have to be like, ‘Oh my gosh, go Lia, that’s great, you’re amazing.’ It’s very fake,” she added.

The swimmer also spoke on how incredibly fast Thomas has been this season.

“The Ivy League is not a fast league for swimming, so that’s why it’s particularly ridiculous that we could potentially have an NCAA champion. That’s unheard of coming from the Ivy League,” Thomas’ teammate said. Harvard’s Dean Farris won NCAA titles from the conference just three seasons ago, and former Penn swimmer Chris Swanson won an NCAA title in the 1650 free in 2016.

“On paper, if Lia Thomas gets back down to Will Thomas’ best times, those numbers are female world records. Faster than all the times Katie Ledecky went in college. Faster than any other Olympian you can think of. His times in three events are [female] world records.”

Now a second Penn swimmer has spoken out:

Even after a Wednesday team meeting where a source says Penn administration “strongly advised” its swimmers to avoid talking to the media about the situation surrounding transgender Penn swimmer Lia Thomas, a second female Penn swimmer has stepped forward to speak out via an exclusive interview with OutKick.

The second female Penn swimmer to speak out, who was granted anonymity due to what is viewed as threats from the university, activists, and the political climate, wants people to know that Penn swimmers are “angry” over the lack of fairness in the sport as Lia Thomas destroys the record books and brings fellow teammates to tears.

The second Penn swimmer to come forward was at the University of Akron Zippy Invitational where she watched Lia Thomas beat fellow teammate Anna Kalandadze by 38 seconds in the 1650 freestyle. OutKick’s source described Penn swimmers on the Akron pool deck as upset and crying, knowing they were going to be demolished by Thomas.

“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,” the source said.

“Now they’re having to go behind the blocks knowing no matter what, they do not have the chance to win. I think that it’s really getting to everyone.”

After just five meets and the Akron Invitational, Thomas has not just destroyed opponents. The Penn freestyle records are being rewritten by a swimmer who was second-team All-Ivy league in 2018-19 — as a male.

Akron was an absolute beatdown by Thomas, but it wasn’t without disgust from fans who were in the building watching meet, pool, and school records drop one after the other.

“Usually everyone claps, everyone is yelling and cheering when someone wins a race. Lia touched the wall and it was just silent in there,” OutKick’s source said during a phone interview.

“When [Penn swimmer] Anna [Kalandadze] finished second, the crowd erupted in applause.”

Friday, Thomas set a new 500 freestyle Ivy League record. Saturday saw Thomas touch the wall in the 200 freestyle, which is now the nation’s fastest time in the event. And then there was the 1650 that left fans in disgust.

OutKick’s source said that after the 200 freestyle, Thomas could be overheard bragging.

“That was so easy, I was cruising,” Lia Thomas allegedly said.

According to OutKick’s source, Thomas was unhappy with her time after the 500 race, but while standing in front of teammates, made sure to mention, “At least I’m still No. 1 in the country.”

“Well, obviously she’s No. 1 in the country because she’s at a clear physical advantage after having gone through male puberty and getting to train with testosterone for years,” OutKick’s source said. “Of course you’re No. 1 in the country when you’re beating a bunch of females. That’s not something to brag about.”

The level of deceit is astonishing, as is the level of contempt displayed for the women here, not just by Thomas, but by the coach and by the UPenn authorities. Everyone knows it's a farce, but everyone just keeps on pretending for their own sordid, selfish reasons. Ideally of course women swimmers should simply refuse to compete with the male fraud, but then, as things stand, that's going to be the end of their sporting careers…