An anonymous teammate of University of Pennsylvania transgender swimmer William Thomas, who claims to be a woman and goes by Lia Thomas, alleges he’s mentally ill.
Source: NCAA Championships YouTube
The anonymous teammate spoke to the Washington Examiner and commented on a recent interview Thomas gave to Good Morning America.
In the interview, Thomas talked about going on hormone replacement therapy saying, “The mental and emotional changes actually happened very quickly. I was feeling a lot better mentally. I was less depressed. And I lost muscle mass. And I became a lot weaker and a lot slower in the water.”
Source: ESPN YouTube
While addressing critics that he has an unfair competitive advantage competing against women, Thomas said, “There’s a lot of factors that go into a race and how well you do. And the biggest change for me is that I’m happy. And Sophomore year, where I had my best times competing with the men, I was miserable. And so having that be lifted is incredibly relieving and allows me to put my all in training and racing.”
Thomas then asserted, “Trans people don’t transition for athletics. We transition to be happy and authentic and our true selves. Transitioning to get an advantage is not something that ever factors in to our decisions.”
Reacting to this interview, one of Thomas’s female teammates said, “You can tell he is mentally ill. “I saw the video and was so disgusted.”
The teammate also declared, “Lia identified as a woman, but she is not a female. That is a fact. It doesn’t matter how you feel.”
Source: NCAA Championships YouTube
Specifically addressing Thomas’ comments about gaining an unfair advantage, the teammate noted, “When asked about the question of fairness, Lia said, ‘Well, I’m happy.’ Lia completely ignored the question, dodged the question.”
The teammate then questioned, “If you want to talk about happiness, what about everyone else’s happiness? What about mine? What about my teammates’?”
“What about the swimmers who Lia bumped out of medals at the NCAA championships? What about the girl who finished 9th and finals?” the University of Pennsylvania swimmer continued. “The girl that finished 17th? The girl who finished second to Lia? What about their happiness? What about all their hard work?”
Source: NCAA Championships YouTube
The swimmer then described Thomas as “narcisstic” explaining, “And to say, ‘Oh, well, I am happy,’ it is just so narcissistic. And to not even acknowledge how other girls might feel, it’s selfish and disgusting.”
“It proves that Lia only cared about prioritizing Lia’s happiness above everybody else’s. It’s absurd,” the swimmer declared. “You don’t have an argument as to why this should be OK.”
Source: SwimSwam YouTube
This anonymous teammate is not the only one to criticize Thomas, University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, who tied Thomas for fifth in the 200-yard freestyle at the NCAA swimming championships told United States Senator Marsha Blackburn, “The majority of us female athletes, or females in general, really, are not okay with this, and they’re not okay with the trajectory of this and how this is going and how this could end up in a couple of years.”
What do you make of these comments from Thomas’ teammate?