Virginia’s college women’s swimming team says it feels cheated and left out for having to accept a transgender competitor who until recently competed for the men’s team.
In a case that drew comparisons to the Lia Thomas controversy, the swimmer joined the women’s swim team at Roanoke College after sitting out the previous season during her transition, her teammates said in a press conference Thursday.
The captains of the sophomore, junior and senior squads – Kate Pearson, 19, Lily Mullens, 20, and Bailey Gallagher, 21 – said it was dividing the team because they felt abandoned by the school and the NCAA.
Gallagher and Mullens said they both knew the trans swimmer — who has not been identified — before his transition.
“I never expected to be blindsided by a teammate from the men’s team who now wants to compete with me and my fellow swimmers and break our records,” Gallagher said, noting she initially supported the trans swimmer’s transition.
“Why try to swim when racing biological men?” asked Mullens. “Our defeat is written in biology.”
Team co-captain Bailey Gallagher, 20, said he knew the swimmer before his transition. Roanoke College Swim Team co-captain Lily Mullens, 20, said everyone is “stepping on eggshells,” as swimmers join the women’s squad. Roanoke College Swim Team co-captain Kate Pearson, 20, said people were “fooled” because the swimmer was not on the team. Roanoke College Swimming Former college swimmer Riley Gaines is speaking out against the policy at Roanoke College. Free Women’s Forum
Mullens said everyone on the team was shocked and confused when their coach told them trans swimmers were coming aboard.
“We were all motivated to win this year after finishing second last year, and all that motivation was lost when we found out a biological male would be joining the women’s team,” Mullens said.
The three captains held a meeting with the rest of the swimmers, who all agreed that they didn’t want trans teammates competing against them.
“Why try to swim when racing biological men?” asked Mullens. “Our defeat is written in biology.” Independent Women’s Forum A trio of female swimming captains say they feel pressured to accept trans women into their teams. Roanoke College
The women claimed they felt pressured to stand by the transgender swimmer as she felt suicidal over efforts to evict her.
He has withdrawn from the team.
“Our experience was an emotional rollercoaster ride that I don’t want any girl to ever go through,” Pearson said, calling on the NCAA to regulate how trans athletes can compete in college sports.
The women claimed they felt pressured to stand by the transgender swimmer as she felt suicidal over efforts to evict her. Independent Women’s Forum’s Lily Mullens says, “No one knows what to do.” Instagram / Roanoke College Swimming
“We feel unheard and unseen by the NCAA, our schools, and lawmakers who tell us we have to deal with it ourselves,” he added. “I am stressed every day about what is happening, unable to sleep or finish my homework.
As a boy, the athlete placed ninth in the 500 freestyle in their conference, Division 3, Old Dominion Athletic Conference, and eighth in the 100 fly, according to the team.
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They compared him to Thomas, who finished 462nd as a male in his division, Division 1, before competing on the women’s swim team at the University of Pennsylvania and becoming the first openly trans athlete to win an NCAA Division I national championship.
The team captain insisted that they don’t have a problem with trans athletes per se, but are just concerned about his competitive edge and the possibility that other schools will refuse to compete with Roanoke.
When their coach didn’t help, it felt like a “betrayal,” Pearson said, adding that team members cried when they heard the answer.
“We were told that even if our whole team was against him and refused to compete, the swimming coach would be able to compete with only that person on the team. They can only have one team,” he said.
The coach told the captain to write a letter about their concerns that he would read to the trans swimmer, the swimmer said.
In their letter, Pearson told the Daily Mail that they expressed their support for the swimmer as an individual.
Swim team coaches encourage captains to write letters to trans swimmers detailing their concerns. Instagram / Roanoke College Swimming
“But when it comes to swimming and competition, there are too many biological differences, basically,” he said. “And we repeat several times: this is not a personal matter against you, as a person we support you in your transition.
“But it’s purely based on the swimming aspect of things,” he added.
But the captains said they were blindsided when they learned later that the trans swimmer asked for a copy of the note and shared it with a student advocacy group at the school.
The trans athlete told them on WhatsApp that he felt “sad” and “betrayed” – although he did not read the letter, Pearson said.
Kate Pearson said their objection to the swimmer was not “personal”, but rooted in biological differences. Instagram / Roanoke College Swimming
“He just saw that we weren’t supportive, I guess, of him and like, shut down immediately,” he said. “So that’s kind of the first straw. Didn’t even hear us. And it continued throughout the period of not listening at all to what we had to say.”
Eventually, the coaches called a meeting that included the entire swim team, boys and girls, where Pearson again addressed their concerns, the team said.
“I give the whole women’s team a feeling, like, ‘We’re rooting for you,’ this person. But when it comes to the athletic part, we just think it’s biologically unfair. And we provide real statistics,” he told the Mail.
“And after I finished speaking, the individual immediately jumped up to say, “I’m going to kill myself, I want to kill myself, I want to jump from the Trexler building,’ which is one of our science buildings here,” he said.
Kate Pearson said the trans athlete felt “betrayed” by them. Instagram / Roanoke College Swimming
“I was like, I don’t know how to respond to that,” Pearson said, adding that the athlete’s comments left the meeting quiet. “And I looked at the two coaches and the athletic director, waiting for them to say something, say something. And nothing happened.”
During the awkward encounter, the women said they were also asked to take out their phones and vote in an online poll on whether to allow the athlete, who was present, to remain on the team.
Team members eventually gave the OK but some later said they felt pressured to do so.
But the captains said they were blindsided when they learned later that the trans swimmer asked for a copy of the note and shared it with a student advocacy group at the school. Roanoke College Swimming
The trans swimmer quickly proved too much for his teammates.
“I tied our 50 freestyle record, which is 23.93,” Mullens said. “I did that time when I was fit, in shape, tapered – everything I could, to go at that time.”
But during the first training session, the trans athlete almost broke his record without training, he said.
“The guy got up on the block and swam the 50 freestyle and went low 24. Go ahead. So, the best time,” he told the outlet.
During the awkward encounter, the women said they were also asked to take out their phones and vote in an online poll on whether to allow the athlete, who was present, to remain on the team. Roanoke College
The distraught captain said they wrote the letter to the athlete – signed by all but one of the team’s 17 members – on the advice of the athletic director.
But the trans swimmer told them that the AD claimed the three had said “disgusting things,” leaving the women confused and angry.
Last week, the trans swimmer advised the group that he was withdrawing from the team – leading the coach to tell the captain, “You got what you wanted,” the Daily Mail reported.
“None of us want someone to quit the sport they love. We just want everyone to compete in a fair way. So the individual who quit is not what we all want, in a sense,” said Pearson.
Lily Mullens said the trans swimmer almost broke the team record during the training session. Instagram / Roanoke College Swimming
“It’s like, we just want everyone to have a fair chance at competing and swimming,” she added.
“It almost felt like those things being said made us feel guilty, made us not want to speak up,” Gallagher said.
Roanoke College officials told the outlet that they have never made any decisions about allowing trans athletes to participate.
“This fall a Roanoke College student who identifies as trans (male to female) requested consideration to join and compete on the women’s swim team,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
The trans athlete eventually withdrew from the team. Instagram / Roanoke College Swimming
“While College leadership was reviewing NCAA and national athletic policy regarding eligibility, the student withdrew his request before any decision was made,” the representative said.
But the captains said the college ranking was news to them because they had been told the swimmer was a member of their team.
Pearson said they are calling on the NCAA and other colleges to be proactive in dealing with similar situations.
“Swimming has been the most important thing in my life, and we need the NCAA and lawmakers to step up and address this issue,” he said. “Our situation is resolved, but how many more cases will have to happen before something is resolved.
Paula Scanlan, a former teammate of Lia Thomas, joined the Roanoke swimmers in calling for change, saying the NCAA should have acted when she first called for action in 2021.
“I am saddened by this swimmer’s story because it is all I heard and saw two years ago when it happened to me in the fall of 2021,” he said. “The NCAA and our legislators have failed us.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
