A former Olympic swimmer has written a letter of protest to US college sports’ governing body, the NCAA, attacking its policy on transgender athletes after a high-profile swim meet that made international news.
The University of Pennsylvania’s Lia Thomas made history on Thursday as the first known transgender athlete to win an NCAA swimming championship when she took the title in the 500m freestyle.
Penn's Lia Thomas wins the NCAA championship in the 500 free, touching in a season-best 4:33.24: "It means the world to be here, to be with two of my best friends and my teammates, and to be able to compete." pic.twitter.com/7P2mO6Uyi3
— Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) March 17, 2022
USA Swimming’s policy states that trans athletes must undergo three years of hormone replacement therapy before being allowed to compete. Thomas is six months short of that target but the NCAA decided not to adopt USA Swimming’s rules and allowed the senior to compete in last week’s meet in Atlanta.
Reka Gyorgy, who competed at the 2016 Olympics for Hungary and now swims for Virginia Tech, wrote a letter to the NCAA, objecting to Thomas’s participation.
“This is my last college meet ever and I feel frustrated. It feels like that final spot was taken away from me because of the NCAA’s decision … I know you could say I had the opportunity to swim faster and make the top 16, but this situation makes it a bit different and I can’t help but be angry or sad. It hurts me, my team and other women in the pool,” she wrote.
Save Women’s Sport, a group that opposes transgender athletes competing in women’s competition, staged protests outside Georgia Tech’s swimming facility, where Thomas competed last week. Her victory was greeted with cheers and a smattering of boos by fans poolside.
But while Gyorgy and other swimmers have been critical of Thomas’s participation, other athletes have shown support. Texas’ Erica Sullivan, who finished third behind Thomas in the 500m freestyle, wrote an essay for Newsweek in which she argued women’s sports has other issues that are far more important to address.
“As a woman in sports, I can tell you that I know what the real threats to women’s sports are: sexual abuse and harassment, unequal pay and resources and a lack of women in leadership. Transgender girls and women are nowhere on this list,” Sullivan wrote.
