USA Swimming Official Resigns in Protest Over Lia Thomas Situation
A longtime USA Swimming official, Cynthia Millen has resigned from that role after three decades in the sport. Millen’s departure is in protest of Lia Thomas, University of Pennsylvania swimmer, being allowed to compete for the school’s women’s team after three years of racing as a member of the men’s program. Thomas is a transgender female.
Millen resigned on December 17, on the grounds that she did not believe that Thomas should be afforded the opportunity to compete against biological women. While Thomas underwent hormone suppression and is in accordance with NCAA bylaws that allow her to compete as a member of the woman’s team, her performances show she possesses a competitive advantage due to male puberty and years of testosterone production.
“I told my fellow officials that I can no longer participate in a sport which allows biological men to compete against women,” Millen wrote in her resignation letter. “Everything fair about swimming is being destroyed. If Lia came on my deck as a referee, I would pull the coach aside and say, ‘Lia can swim, but Lia can swim exhibition or a time trial. Lia cannot compete against those women because that’s not fair.’”
Swimming World has covered this story extensively, and will continue to monitor the situation on the road to the NCAA Championships, for which Thomas has qualified. Swimming World Editor-in-Chief John Lohn wrote a column that called for Thomas’ exclusion from the NCAA Champs due to her competitive advantages.
Well done, Cynthia Millen!
I think this is hilarious. Did you see the man in pig tsils who played on the woman’s volleyball team. You can’t make this stuff up. I can’t wait to see what this crazy country comes up with next.
Kudos to Cynthia Millen for taking a stand for reason and fairness and women’s sports.
I am instructing my D1 swimmer to stand down if a biological male goes up on block same heat. Her brother is D1 too and his foot size 12, his chest and shoulders are enormous. He is 220 lbs and 6,3. Hormones will NOT change his reach, his kick nor most of his advantages. We do not want to offend but now I AM OFFENDED. Women have the right to their own sports. This is going to get worse before it gets better.
I totally agree with the outrage against allowing a male to compete against women in women’s competition. Setting aside the long held “consensus” that gender dysphoria IS a mental disorder the basic notions of fair competition would at most require that Lea be afforded the opportunity to compete against other “trans” but never should be allowed to compete in the womens events. (And to think that everyone has argued that a “consensus” was synonymous with “immutable truth” when it actually means mob rule by fools, idiots, the ignorant and those with ulterior motives…)
Until people grow the intestinal fortitude to confront the epidemic of stupidity and “rightthink” of the 21st Century West it will be left to our daughters to shoulder the fight. Every natural female competitor placed on the starting block against this fraud should refuse to enter the water. If it’s in another support then they should refuse to “suit up” in the uniform until sanity is restored. If they lose their scholarship then the institution should be sued, denied access to all government financial aid and in the meantime we should form and fund a charity to replace the lost scholarship support.
Finally!!! Why do we have Title XI if they’re just going to change the rules.
Where are all the Feminists? Why are they not outraged NCAA has allowed a biological man to compete as a women and take away records held by biological women.
This is ridiculous!!
Well done Mark Fisher!
Why can’t we just have a third division in swimming. Male , Female a d transgender division. ?????
I thought of the same thing but they are a small number of competitors so I believe the answer is to let her swim the event but she has her own time as a transgender and the other girls are another event with their own times. I don’t see how she could complain much because she would be the winner of her own event and her the only one in it and the other girls would have their own first second and third places etc.
I fully support Cynthia Millen for taking action on this absolute ridiculous decision to allow a man, transgender or not compete against women swimmers. It seems after taking a year of swimming it’s a better chance to win to dress up and make a fool of himself.
This is all done to protect Lea’s feelings, but she does not seem to care about all other women’s feelings. We are all supposed to believe that she is just a super talented female swimmer! This is so unfair and insane!
I support this decission … it is a competitive disadvantange to biological women.
When this person has a daughter and her hopes and dreams are destroyed by someone like him then maybe he will get what he’s doing is dead wrong. The girls should have another team to compete in. Shame on the woke idiots who think this is ok and are taking down years of hard fought Womens rights
If this person could have a daughter…he can’t…
I consider myself “woke” and this is just ridiculous. HE should not be allowed to compete against women. You can’t support women’s rights and this.
You’re not woke then. And that’s a compliment.
I guess you not woke enough
If you consider yourself “woke”, you need to acknowledge that this situation is the same as the conflict over bathrooms and locker rooms….fake women still have the body of males, but they’re demanding access to rooms where females change. And if you truly support women’s rights, you need to look up CA law that places male rapists in women’s prisons if they claim to be transgender. And yes, women have already been raped because of this policy. Lia Thomas is just scratching the surface of how women are being harmed because of LGBTQ+ nonsense.
Ironically Lia is not a registered member of USA Swimming and not swimming USA competitions. However, I do agree there is an unfair advantage.
The article should’ve pointed that USA Swimming and the NCAA are two separate things and Millen’s resignation is a pointless gesture.
” Ironically Lia is not a registered member of USA Swimming and not swimming USA competitions. However, I do agree there is an unfair advantage.”
I think because Lia is a senior, and this is “her” last year, she wants to have the “legacy” of being the fastest woman in UPENN women’s swimming. She knows no bio-women will be able to break her record in the future.
The problem is Lia followed the rules and STILL wanted to compete against women. Just because there are rules in place doesn’t mean it’s right. Lia was born, raised, trained and competed as a male: she has all the advantages of male puberty. To tell people to lie what their eyes can see is a lie.
Not only that, I think because Lia is a senior, and this is ‘her’ last year she wants to have the ‘legacy’ of being the fastest woman at UPENN for women’s swimming.
So sad. No respect for the real female swimmers, and now our officials just doing their jobs. US Swimming , NCAA stand up for our sport. I have coached swimming for over 30 years & never saw this coming since title 9.
Why did I go to school to get a degree in biology, including genetics, if I am now told it was all a sham, and to be replaced bt wishful thinking?
Beautiful
As a masters swimmer, former college swimmer, mother of 2 college swimmers and an official, I find the NCAA beyond negligent in allowing this to continue. Nothing will turn out well. I have talked with my swimmers, who are both distance swimmers, just as William/ Lia is. My son swam against William for more than 12 years as an age grouper. William had winter juniors cuts as a boy. Pretty speedy. I asked my daughter how she would feel if she was to swim the mile against Lia. Her response was’ “I wouldn’t get on the blocks.”
This is where I think the real issue is. Girls will walk away from this ridiculous situation that is being veiled as fair. This is in no form or fashion a socially progressive decision. It is a giant step backwards, pre title IX ! Recruiting will suffer if this is what girls are presented with.
If William/Lia feels a need to compete, great !! Train hard, race hard. Enter exhibition! Stay out of the girls lanes.
Please refer to Lia by her real name: Lia Thomas. William is not her name
Yes it is
William is the name the parents gave…why not swim in Trans division…lets make it simple…boys get on the blocks against other boys… Girls compete against girls…and William / Lia can compete against other Trans…men… women.. and trans divisions…easy as that..
William. Willy. Will. Take your pick.
Please refer to him by the proper pronoun for his biological sex. He has XY chromosomes. Enabling mental illness is cruel.
Trust the science! William is a guy!!
stfu idiot
Lea is not a “she”.
YEEEEESSS! Totally agree!
Just a thought… What if there was a performance handicap racing factors applied to trans athletes. For example in sailing different boats race together but have phrf ratings applied. Maybe a similar system could work in women’s sports.
Oh, no! How will the swimming world move forward without Cynthia Millen?!
I would be curious when this “resignation” took place. (I also wonder how does one resign from a volunteer position?) There is no one named Millen when searching OTS. I guess she must have demanded to be removed immediately.
Only way to change this is to walk off the blocks wwhen he steps up. The gates were blown open when they gave in to this crap.
USA Swimming has been pushing for this. They sponsor boys who think they are girls and girls who think they are boys to a rather exclusive camp every summer. Why is my son not given opportunities? How about our daughters? Do they deserve less opportunities because they don’t suffer from sexual dismorphia?
This whole thing is so ridiculous, we should have never talked about it, because that should have never happened!!! Obviously it’s not fair to all competing women, world is heading to the end!!! ??♂️??♂️??♂️
Everyone who is angry over Thomas having an “unfair advantage” is just using it as an excuse to be transphobic and that is unacceptable. Lia Thomas is a woman. It is her right to compete in the NCAA as a woman, especially given that she is in total compliance with NCAA rules. As a woman who is a current NCAA D1 swimmer, I see no issue with Thomas competing against women because she is a woman. She has taken more than enough hormone suppressants to compete as a woman, so who cares. In fact, as a current athlete, I welcome the opportunity to compete against Lia because she makes such a formidable opponent. To everyone who is upset with Thomas competing, be honest with yourself, you don’t actually care about if Thomas competing against women gives her an unfair advantage, you are just a raging bigot. So please, stop being transphobic and just let the girl participate in the sport she loves.
Well, she’s a guy so
If she? was born as a male physically, she? is and will always be a male. Hormone suppressants do not alter that fact or the fact that she? still has a physical advantage over a person born as a female. How are you going to feel if you compete against her? and lose because of her advantage because she? is really male and has an advantage due to that fact. You can claim that it will not make a difference but you know it will. No one is saying the person cannot compete, they are saying it should be done honestly and fairly. If you are saying I am transphobic, what ever that is, and a raging bigot, I will not lose any sleep over it.
Surely this is satire.
Lia is a woman. That however does not give her the right to compete against all other women. Our daughters have a right to compete in fair competition. Unfortunately for trans women, their rights do not supersede those of people born as women. I feel bad she was not born in a body she could identify with but people deal with worse.
You are making the argument more convoluted than it needs to be. Just say the truth….Lia is a male and belongs in the male division. When you use their terminology and talk about people born as women, it is just nonsense. I’m not a person born as a woman. I’m a woman.
I don’t think it is fair to accuse everyone who is troubled by this of transphobia or bigotry. I, for one, support equal rights for trans people, except in a situation like this, where other people are being harmed. Lia may be in compliance with NCAA rules, but that does not mean the rules are fair. The fact that Lia went through male puberty raises valid questions about fairness to swimmers who were born female.
If you support equal rights for trans people, you are contributing to the harm of women. The Lancet called women “people with vaginas”. This is demeaning, and most certainly harms women. In some countries, it is now even illegal to write sentiments as expressed in your post. There are also male rapists that are allowed to be housed in women’s prisons….where they have gone on to rape the women there. I would encourage you to learn more about the real world harms that transgender ideology causes.
BS! She is a Male! Born & when the time comes will die a male! Stop accusing people of being transphobic when this comes down to an unfair playing field!
You’re a liar. If you really wanted such robust competition you’d compete against all males, not just say you’d want to compete against this one. NCAA can make all the rules they want, but XY chromosomes still make him a man. Your fake outrage is pathetic.
Does William or “Lia” have ovaries or fallopian tubes? Trust the science is not bigotery!
People are NOT born into the wrong body. Someone who is male may have more or less testosterone which affects their mood and body makeup, but XY Chromosomes are MALE. The NCAA rules are not scientific, they are a ridiculously negligible hurdle. Gender dysphoria is a real thing and you are contributing to the abuse of young people by advocating for something that is clearly a mental issue. Sex is not a social construct. It is a biological fact of natural life. Someone who has lived as a male for more than 20 years has a distinct physical advantage over a biological female. It’s not fair, despite how you and Lea and the NCAA or USA Swimming FEEL about the situation. Nobody here has devalued Lea as a human, so your transphobic nonsense is incorrect. We care about protecting women and women’s sports. Period. Save the religious zealotry for church.
You are very confused. Born a male you’re a male. Born a female that is what you are, PERIOD. Anything else is ludicrous and just your minority opinion. Can’t change biology. If one wants to act like they are the opposite sex of what they are born, fine, it’s cool and it’s a free country. Please do not impose the fantasy and shove it down our collective throats as fact.
Thinking does not make it so. Of course Lia is not a woman. She is a trans woman. She has a right to live as a woman if she feels that is necessary. She is not breaking the rules at this time but that is the point. THE RULES ARE WRONG. Maybe try doing a little research on this instead of responding with woke platitudes. If you had been around when U.S. swimmers were competing against the doping East Germans, you would understand this issue that you clearly do not understand. This is part of a war against women’s rights and you are on the wrong side of the war.
The problem is Lia followed the rules and STILL wanted to compete against women. Just because there are rules in place doesn’t mean it’s right. Lia was born, raised, trained and competed as a male: she has all the advantages of male puberty. To tell people to lie what their eyes can see is a lie.
Not only that, I think because Lia is a senior, and this is ‘her’ last year she wants to have the ‘legacy’ of being the fastest woman at UPENN for women’s swimming.
” Everyone who is angry over Thomas having an “unfair advantage” is just using it as an excuse to be transphobic and that is unacceptable. Lia Thomas is a woman. It is her right to compete in the NCAA as a woman, especially given that she is in total compliance with NCAA rules. As a woman who is a current NCAA D1 swimmer, I see no issue with Thomas competing against women because she is a woman. She has taken more than enough hormone suppressants to compete as a woman, so who cares. In fact, as a current athlete, I welcome the opportunity to compete against Lia because she makes such a formidable opponent. To everyone who is upset with Thomas competing, be honest with yourself, you don’t actually care about if Thomas competing against women gives her an unfair advantage, you are just a raging bigot. So please, stop being transphobic and just let the girl participate in the sport she loves.”
I think because Lia is a senior, and this is “her” last year, she wants to have the “legacy” of being the fastest woman in UPENN women’s swimming. She knows no bio-women will be able to break her record in the future.
Imagine brock Lesnar fighting in the UFC as a girl…..it is just as ridiculous as this .
Perhaps less ridiculous, imagine if you will Bruce Jenner competing as a female? It is an official’s duty to ensure a fair and level playing field for all. Her statement while symbolic is significant. I would suggest that those powers that be come up with a fair solution. Having a separate category for Trans men and women would be a great start.
We already have a devision for these type of people , it’s the special olympics .let him/her compete there . It’s already there for people with disabilities
This is all about Mister Thomas’s ego. He reached the pinnacle of men’s collegiate swimming and had no more fame. So, in order to feed his ego and stay in the limelight, he switched to becoming a ‘woman’s and continuing his fame . Unfortunately, this is bad for the swim sports and sports in general. All females on U of Pennsylvania swim team should quit .
Does William or “Lia” have ovaries or fallopian tubes? Trust the science is not bigotery!
Are these sexually confused athletes allowed in all sports at all levels? How long before 7 ft Shaq size “woman” single handedly takes over the WNBA? This is the pinnacle of delusional wokeness. How does this debate “rage on” among intelligent rational people that respect women’s rights?
Are these sexually confused athletes allowed in all sports at all levels? How long before 7 ft Shaq size “woman” single handedly takes over the WNBA? This is the pinnacle of delusional wokeness. How does this debate “rage on” among intelligent rational people that respect women’s rights?
Thank you for taking a stand
Soooo she uses science to show an advantage that she claims is unfair.Yet ignores science about having XY makes you male and XX makes you female. Seems legit.
Anyone who disagrees with your way of thinking ( or lack of thinking) is immediately labeled as a bigot, racist or what ever label fits your narrative. You do this to degrade them because you have no legitimate defense for your opinion other than this is what the trend is in our present society.
Is Lia allowed to swim when she is having her period? /s
Looks like a Dude with Greasy, Long Hair and Beard Stubble.
Not even close to a Chick.
If next week WilLIAm decides he’s a dog and starts snacking on MilkBones, does he get to compete in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show? After all, there’s just as much evidence he’s a dog as that he’s a woman.
The women should refuse to compete against “her” and go on the blocks with warmups on and arms-crossed and refuse to jump in and race until he is disqualified from competing as a woman.
For a group that constantly talks about people being soft yall are awful quick to cry about this stuff. Just cope, if she wasn’t trans this wouldn’t be a conversation. Sport is about celebrating biological diversity and biological advantage. If you are so worried about cis men competing as women then maybe it is the cis men you should be worried about, not the trans women.
You aren’t making any sense. People object to any biological male competing against women. That would include trans women and cis men. The trans women have the same biological advantages against women competitively as do the cis males. Have you ever studies any science?
I only hope that this is read.
I am trans, MTF. I agree with the underlying premise: birth males should not compete with birth females. This is especially true when it occurs post puberty. A post puberty male is a 100% male body. Pills and surgery cannot unwind Nature.
I am an antique. I am 70. I knew I was “a girl” at age 5, but in 1956, that never was voiced. Nor was it voiced when I was in High School or college, although I very secretly went out in public a little during college en femme.
Again, I support no birth males competing in girls/women’s sports. That is absurd.
I say every female competitor walks away and says we Will Not Swim if She/He/It is allowed to compete. Then he/she/it would have no one to compete against. Girls stand up for yourselves and quit letting the minority in this Country tell you what to do. Fight Back.
There’s an analogy to be had here with medieval alchemists, who sought to transmute one element into another using chemistry and incantation. What they didn’t understand is that chemical reactions involve only an atom’s electrons; the nucleus is untouched. Thus lead remains lead, gold remains gold…
I’ve never heard or read about trans men wanting to compete in men’s swimming events. That’s a telling story.
Lia was born a man and that is a fact that gives her an unfair advantage against biological women in sports. If she was a really fair person, she would agree. What a hollow victory to win a competition like this. Compare it to an adult winning a race with a toddler. Shameful.