The Women’s Swim Team at Roanoke College has recently seen a “Lia Thomas” attempt as a biological male has attempted to become a member of the women's team, claiming he is now a female and he should be allowed to join the team.
10 members of the Roanoke College women’s swim team stood up as a group to speak out for fairness in sports after a biological male attempted to join their team during a press conference on Thursday regarding the issue.
Upon learning they’d be going through a Thomas repeat, the three captains came together and determined they were all stressed out about this situation. The onus to be accepting and understanding was placed firmly on the athletes, but they knew what was going on was wrong and they wanted to fight for what was right.
With their parents, supporters and advocates in this fight against biological men competing in Women’s Sports in attendance to support the girls who were affected. Teammate after teammate walked up to the podium during the press conference with a similar message: the women had been "demoralized" and hurt by their Division III school after they returned to campus this fall knowing a biological male would be attempting to pull a Lia Thomas.
The Male, who is not being named out of the wishes of the team, was a member of the 2021 men's team and did not compete in the 2022 season.
According to Roanoke College, the student had reached out to the coaches and members of the school to ask for permission to swim on the women's team after going through a transition, which was apparently approved by the College.
“My feelings, our team’s feelings and comfort were blatantly ignored and only one athlete was prioritized,” 19-year-old Kate Pearson, one of the team’s three captains said during the press conference on Thursday at a Downtown Hotel in Roanoke, Virginia.
“I felt unheard and unseen.” Said Senior Captain Bailey Gallagher during her speech at the press conference, “Our comfort was undervalued and discarded. Numerous times we asked the school for support. Each and every time we were told to deal with it ourselves or told nothing at all. The school refused to give out information to our parents and we were informed that even if our entire swim team decided to stand together and not swim, in the name of the infairness (stet) that was happening, our coach would have a one-athlete swim team. That information alone was the most discouraging and disheartening of all. Our school was prioritizing one individual swimmer over 17 women whose only request was fairness.”
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L to R: Roanoke College's Swim Captains Kate Pearson, 19,
Lily Mullens, 20, and Bailey Gallagher, 21. File Photo
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“The situation we’re seeing unfold at Roanoke College is virtually the exact same that my teammates and competitors went through in regard to Lia Thomas,” Gaines said. “The difference is these girls have found their voice a lot sooner and through unity. This indicates that the tide is starting to turn. Courage is contagious and there is strength in numbers. I’m so proud and grateful for these girls and their fight to defend common sense.”
Some of the girls continued to speak about the trans athlete trying to ruin their experiences as female athletes, including Captain Lily Mullens who spoke to Outkick.com about her feelings on the issue.
“Nobody ever wanted this individual to have the love of the sport taken away from them.” Mullens said “That was never our goal. The goal was literally to protect the integrity of our sport as females.”