This next story may be a bit confusing for most people…
God knows it took me a few minutes to fully grasp.
You may have recently heard of a trans female (biological male) swimmer by the name of Lia Thomas, who has been breaking records over at the University of Pennsylvania in women’s swimming.
There has been quite a bit of outrage over this recently, with one USA Swimming official even resigning in protest over the inclusion of biological males in the sport.
Well, this story just took an interesting turn.
Thomas was just defeated twice in competition by another trans swimmer.
The thing is, this one is a trans male (biological female).
Trans UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas is CRUSHED twice in Ivy League women's swim meet by Yale competitor Iszac Henighttps://t.co/qQlRNv2rXF
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) January 9, 2022
Daily Mail has all the details:
Transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas was crushed twice in a women’s swim meet by another transgender competitor who is transitioning from female to male – first in the 100-yard freestyle, where she placed fifth, and then again in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Competing against Ivy League rivals Dartmouth and Yale, Thomas won the first of her four races by just two seconds – one month after she shattered two women’s records with a 38-second margin against her closest competitor. She also narrowly won the 500-yard freestyle by a second, with bystanders telling DailyMail.com that she seemed to be ‘coasting’ and ‘barely trying’.
But stunned parents at the meet held at UPenn’s pool in Philadelphia gasped as Yale swimmer Iszac Henig easily beat out his opponents in the women’s 100-yard freestyle with a time of 49.57 seconds. Thomas finished fifth with a time of 52.84 seconds.
Henig, a 20-year-old from Palo Alto, California, has delayed hormone treatments to finish his career on Yale’s women’s team as he transitions from female to male.
In the women’s 400-yard freestyle relay, Henig again crushed Thomas and his other competitors, finishing in 50.45 seconds to power Yale to victory in the meet. Thomas finished her leg of the race in 51.94 seconds.
Twitter users were understandably confused by this story:
This stuff makes my head explode. But maybe its the answer, too. Men compete against men, women vs women, and trans vs trans.
Penn’s Transgender Swimmer Lost To Yale’s Transgender Swimmer In Hotly Contested Women’s Ivy League 100 meter Race https://t.co/sHN4WxNcaZ
— Michael Carozza (@MichaelCarozza1) January 9, 2022
Can someone make this simple for me –
👉did the biological male beat the biological female OR
👉did the biological female beat the biological maleOr in even simpler terms-
💥Did cock beat fanny or fanny beat cock? https://t.co/78MFr7W59Z— PaulB. 🇬🇧 🇺🇸🇳🇿🇨🇦🇦🇺🇮🇱 (@PB_RHAR) January 9, 2022
Great News!
The transgender "woman" swimmer from Penn U was defeated in a match by a trans "woman" swimmer from Yale.
There are no words…..— The Prints of Whales (@Charles96704323) January 9, 2022
Gender identity makes a mockery of the category of “woman”.
A male taking up space by “coasting” along, and a female who has had her breasts amputated, and openly displaying her scars, winning the race. The absolute state of this. https://t.co/ZaomdoRsa1
— Save Women’s Sports Australasia (@SWS_australasia) January 8, 2022
To be clear, the biological female beat the biological male.
Lia Thomas dominated by fellow Ivy League transgender swimmer Iszac Henig https://t.co/Bvgc0tfO7e pic.twitter.com/gWwsiNHCf4
— New York Post (@nypost) January 9, 2022
Our friends at the New York Post have more on trans swimmer Iszac Henig:
Henig was able to compete on the women’s team because she had yet to start testosterone treatment, according to a June piece in The New York Times.
Henig wrote: “As a student-athlete, coming out as a trans guy put me in a weird position. I could start hormones to align more with myself, or wait, transition socially and keep competing on a women’s swim team. I decided on the latter.”
Conservative commentators chimed in on the story:
Penn’s transgender swimmer lost to Yale’s transgender swimmer in a hotly contested women’s Ivy League 100 meter race. https://t.co/GE1d4sYZqc
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) January 8, 2022
This would be hilarious if it weren’t so tragic.
Female trans UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas is CRUSHED by male trans competitor | Daily Mail Online https://t.co/5PZEcbD80Y
— Dinesh D'Souza (@DineshDSouza) January 8, 2022
A pseudo-female gets beat by a pseudo-male at a real women's swim meet. "UPenn Trans Swimmer Lia Thomas Crushed By Trans Opponent At Swim Meet" https://t.co/rHkvo8l6zZ
— Rev. Bryan Fischer – Host, Bryan Fischer Podcast (@BryanJFischer) January 9, 2022
I don't know why women should even show up anymore
Yale trans swimmer beats Penn trans rival in women's Ivy League race https://t.co/FSsNVHkpbV
— Libby Emmons (@libbyemmons) January 9, 2022
Join the conversation!
Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!