Cynthia Millen, a USA Swimming official with three decades of experience, has recently resigned over transgender student-athlete Lia Thomas.
Millen submitted her resignation letter Dec. 17 arguing that Thomas, a University of Pennsylvania swimmer, should not be afforded the opportunity to compete against biological women.
“I told my fellow officials that I can no longer participate in a sport which allows biological men to compete against women. Everything fair about swimming is being destroyed,” Millen said.
Swimming World reported that “Thomas underwent hormone suppression and is in accordance with NCAA bylaws that allow her to compete as a member of the woman’s team,” but “her performances show she possesses a competitive advantage due to male puberty and years of testosterone production”.
“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,'” Millen said.
Millen spoke to Fox News, saying “It’s placing women who can never compete with a man at a gross disadvantage by basically … calling this person a female competitor. He’s not. It’s his body that will always be different and always be faster as a competitive swimmer”.
“And it’s this great illusion that somehow, because he feels he’s a female, that he can be a female swimmer,” she added. “This is grossly unfair to all the women who have worked so hard. Women biologically will never be faster than men”.
Thomas came out as transgender in 2019 after competing for three years on the men’s swim team at UPenn. After joining the women’s team, Thomas has broken multiple records “with one teammate finishing in second place in the 1,650-meter freestyle some 38 second behind her,” according to the New York Post.
When asked about backlash regarding her performance, Thomas said “I just don’t engage with it”.
“Bodies swim against bodies. Gender identities don’t swim,” Millen said.