There’s a new athlete obliterating women’s swimming records at the University of Pennsylvania.
There’s just one little catch: he’s not a woman.
Per Outkick, Lia Thomas, a 22-year-old male who thinks he’s a female, just set two new UPenn records in the 200-meter and 500-meter freestyles, handily beating out his biologically female competitors and setting times that would have placed him in second and third place, respectively, in all of NCAA swimming across the nation. He also won the 100-meter freestyle, and helped his female teammates win their 400-meter free relay.
But just a couple years ago, Lia – then going by Will – was competing against men. In fact, he swam in men’s competitions for three years at UPenn before “transitioning” and being allowed to compete on the women’s team. Outkick notes he was competing as a man as recently as November 2019, adding that Thomas’s “500 freestyle would’ve been good for bronze at the 2021 Championships.”
“Being trans has not affected my ability to do this sport and being able to continue is very rewarding,” Thomas told the campus student newspaper in June, less than two years out from having identified as a guy. According to UPenn rules, biologically male students who identify as women can compete on women's sports teams provided they've completed at least one year of testosterone suppression (despite such hormone therapy not being particularly effective, according to some studies, and despite it not making up for other natural physical advantages such as height, weight, and muscle mass.)
But now, thanks to “woke” leftists who’ve determined it’s fine for men to dominate women’s sports, championships and private spaces in the name of “inclusivity,” not only is Thomas smashing women’s records, but he’s also taking up a spot on UPenn’s women’s team that would have otherwise gone to an actual woman.
The patriarchy wins again.