A transgender swimmer at a New Jersey college has sparked controversy after she broke the women’s school record last weekend after three years of competing on the men’s team.
Meghan Cortez-Fields, a senior at New Jersey’s Ramapo College, set a new record and took home first place in the 100-yard butterfly at a meet in Pennsylvania last Saturday.
His time of 57.22 was 0.68 seconds faster than the previous record set in 2017, the latest school figures show.
Cortez-Fields, a native of College Station, Texas, also won the 200-yard individual medley at the Cougar Splash hosted by Misericordia University.
The school initially celebrated her new record in a congratulatory Instagram post, but quickly deleted it after critics began slamming Cortez-Fields’ win — specifically pointing out how she was only on the women’s team this season.
Former college swimmer turned activist, Riley Gaines, was among those leading the outrage, posting on X that Cortez-Fields has gone from “a less-than-ordinary male swimmer to a record-breaker who competes with women.”
Meghan Cortez-Fields, a senior at New Jersey’s Ramapo College, set a new record and took home first place in the 100-yard butterfly at a meet in Pennsylvania last Saturday. Ramapo College Athletics
“Those who choose to remain blind to the injustice of allowing mediocre male athletes to become record-breaking female athletes are either incompetent or misogynistic. There’s no more in between,” Gaines added in an interview with Fox News.
“The incident at Ramapo College should not surprise anyone as we have seen similar stories over and over again without people in leadership positions willing to take a stand for women.”
Independent Council of Women’s Sports (ICONS) also sounds in X, accused Cortez-Fields of having “erased women’s names from the record books.”
Ramapo College, however, defended Cortez-Fields, saying the school abides by NCAA policy and that it “supports all of our student-athletes.”
“There are strict measures that the NCAA makes trans athletes go through. You have to meet certain criteria to show that you are able, as a trans athlete, to compete with women,” a spokesperson said.
“We are an NCAA affiliate. We comply. We’ve done everything the NCAA says it needs to do regarding trans athletes competing on teams. All steps have been taken, and documentation has been prepared for approval of Meghan’s participation.”
The school said the original Instagram post was deleted by a student “who wanted to protect their teammates from disparaging comments.”
Cortez-Fields, who hails from College Station, Texas, also won the 200-yard individual medley at the Cougar Splash hosted by Misericordia University. Ramapo College Athletics
“We remain concerned about the violence we see on social media and threats of violence against some members of the college. We will continue to post all of our team and individual student-athlete achievements for all of our athletic programs, as we always do,” the spokesperson added.
The backlash against Ramapo swimmers came after the University of Pennsylvania’s Lia Thomas sparked a firestorm last year after she began winning meets after competing for three years on the men’s squad.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
