Teammate of ‘Transgender’ Swimmer Lia Thomas Claims UPENN Silenced, Intimidated Female Swimmers Who Brought Up Concerns

A teammate of transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas came forward revealing how the school attempted to silence and intimidate members of the team for speaking out against their biologically male peer.

In an interview filmed for Daily Wire correspondent Matt Walsh’s documentary, “What Is A Woman?” an anonymous teammate of Thomas’ described how women on the team were afraid to broach the issue.

GMA interviewed Lia Thomas today. Great timing. Our film features one of Thomas's teammates. She told me that women on her team were silenced and referred to psychological counseling if they objected to having Thomas on the team. More in the full film: https://t.co/xibkNa4oHW pic.twitter.com/YRRf2S712a

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 31, 2022

“Lia obviously helps us do better, right? Lia’s swimming really fast. Lia’s performance helps the University of Pennsylvania swim team,” the female swimmer masked by a silhouette told Walsh. “The feeling of winning doesn’t feel as good anymore because it feels tainted.”

The disgruntled swimmer told Walsh teammates were discouraged from discussing the issue lest they be labeled transphobic.

“There was a lot of things we couldn’t talk about that was concerning, like the locker room situation, if you even brought up concerns about it you were transphobic,” she said.

One such locker room incident was reported by the Daily Mail earlier this year, with an anonymous teammate describing being freaked out by Thomas “because Lia still has male body parts and is still attracted to women.”

“While Lia covers herself with a towel sometimes, there’s a decent amount of nudity,  the swimmer said. She and others have had a glimpse at her private parts,” the Mail reported.

“She stated that team members have raised their concern with the coach, trying to get Thomas ousted from the female locker room, but got nowhere.”

The anonymous swimmer additionally told Walsh teammates were also afraid to express worries about fairness.

“If you even bring up the fact that Lia’s swimming might not be fair, you’re immediately shut down and called a hateful person, or transphobic,” she said.

Asked if coaches ever adequately addressed female swimmers’ concerns, the anonymous teammate said the university instead brought in various departmental heads to help them work through their issues.

“So, Penn actually brought in people high up in the athletic department to talk to us, like brought in someone from the LGBTQ center, they brought in someone from psychological services,” she recalled.

“So you’re upset about what’s happening, and so you need psychological help?” Walsh summarized, to which the swimmer agreed.

“And they told us in this meeting, they said, ‘Look, we understand there’s an array of emotions, but Lia’s swimming is a non-negotiable. However, we can help you make that okay, that’s what we’re here for,” the swimmer said.

The excerpt from the documentary was released as ABC/Disney’s “Good Morning America” on Tuesday aired an interview with Thomas who was allowed to speak up about the controversy surrounding his/her swimming career.

“I intend to keep swimming,” Thomas told “Good Morning America.” “It’s been a goal of mine to swim at Olympic trials for a very long time, and I would love to see that through.”

In March, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) issued a proclamation rejecting Lia Thomas’ victory in an NCAA women’s competition and instead declaring second-place finisher, University of Virginia student and former Tampa Bay-native Emma Weyant as the true champion of the NCAA Division 1 500-yard freestyle race.

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