A parent of a UPenn swimmer said his daughter and 'a good number' of teammates are furious and 'crying on the pool deck' because feel they can no longer compete fairly with trans swimmer Lia Thomas on their team.
The parent, speaking under the condition of anonymity with Fox News, also bashed the NCAA after they decided to 'cop-out' and pass the buck on trans athlete guidelines to the sports organization, and he demanded USA Swimming step up and 'do the right thing.'
'USA Swimming oversees all swimming in the United States, and I think if they really have courage they could craft a policy in such a way that tells little girls that USA Swimming has their best interests as well.' he said, adding that his daughter has been angry about the whole situation and claimed she lost spots on relay races because of Thomas.
'She has given this sport everything she has, and she feels like some of it's been taken away,' he said.
The father's statements comes after a UPenn swimmer accused Thomas, 22, of plotting to lose to a trans Yale swimmer in early January to 'prove that a woman can beat her,' and take heat off of Thomas after garnering controversy for smashing UPenn women's records.
The father of a UPenn swimmer claimed his daughter and some of her teammates were upset and no longer able to compete fairly with trans swimmer Lia Thomas (above)
Thomas, pictured on January 8, has garnered controversy after transitioning to a woman and entering UPenn's women's swim team, smashing records
The father of one of the teammates said team morale was bad and that teammates were afraid to speak up because they could be labeled transphobic. He urged USA Swimming to pass clear guidelines on trans athletes. Pictured, the team at the beach on January 3 (circled, Thomas)
Like many of Thomas's critics on the team, the accusing teammate also spoke under anonymity because they feared being labeled transphobic.
The father who spoke to Fox echoed these worries and said the team could 'have their future threatened' if they openly came out and criticize Thomas.
He added that there has been a lot of 'crying on the pool deck' over the situation.
'They don't agree with what Lia's doing and they're really unhappy with the situation,' he said. 'Morale is bad.'
USA Swimming, which oversees more than 360,000 members, released a statement on Thursday after the NCAA Board of Governors said they will update their guidelines on 'non-elite' trans athletes to follow the wishes of each sport's governing body.
USA Swimming announced it would
