Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas’ former team-mate demands an apology for being ‘forced to undress with him 18 times a week’… after American lost legal battle to compete in women’s events at the Olympics

Paula Scanlan has welcomed the news that her former teammate Lia Thomas will not be allowed to compete in the Olympics, claiming she should be given an apology for being forced to strip naked with the transgender athlete ’18 times a week’.

It was announced on Wednesday afternoon that the 25-year-old swimmer would not be allowed to compete in the Olympics after losing her legal battle to overturn rules banning her possible involvement.

Scanlan took to social media shortly after the verdict was announced and demanded an apology. He wrote the following on Twitter (X): ‘Okay, but is anyone going to apologize for forcing us to undress with him 18 times a week?’

Thomas first made headlines in March 2022 when she became the first trans athlete to win the NCAA women’s college swimming title – the US’s most prestigious college title.

But it wasn’t long before the World Aquatics (WA) introduced a rule change that would prevent anyone who had undergone ‘any part of male puberty’ from competing in the female category.

Paula Scanlan (pictured left) has welcomed the news that her former teammate Lia Thomas (pictured right) will not be allowed to compete in the Olympic Games

Instead, they created an “open” category for which transgender athletes would be eligible. However, the decision did not go down well with Thomas, who asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn the rules approved in 2022.

Thomas — who swam for the Pennsylvania men’s team for three seasons before starting hormone replacement therapy in early 2019 — said the rules were invalid, illegal and discriminatory.

However, the three-judge CAS panel rejected Thomas’s request for arbitration before World Aquatics’ governing body, dismissing the case on the grounds of a ‘technicality’.

They said Thomas was “simply not entitled to be eligible to participate in WA competitions such as the Olympics or world championships” because she was no longer part of US swimming.

As a result, the decision ended Thomas’ hopes of competing in the Olympics – which the 25-year-old called “very disappointing” in a statement released by her legal team.

The statement shared via AP read: “A blanket ban that prevents trans women from competing is discriminatory and deprives us of valuable athletic opportunities that are central to our identity.”

Thomas is reported to have said that the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision should be seen as a call to action for trans women to “fight for our dignity and human rights.”

While Sarah Kate Ellis, president/CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), said in a statement that Thomas deserves an opportunity to participate in her sport and follow their dream.

Thomas made headlines in March 2022 when she became the first trans athlete to win the NCAA women’s college swimming title – the most prestigious college title in the US

“World Aquatics continues to spread misinformation about transgender people as a distorted way to ‘protect women,’” Ellis added. “Transgender women are women and all athletes who want to play and follow the rules should have the opportunity to do so.”

However, one person who welcomed the news was Thomas’ former teammates, Scanlan. Scanlan took to Twitter (X) to make her feelings known after the verdict was announced.

Scanlan — who swam with Thomas at the University of Pennsylvania — retweeted the New York Post story announcing that the transgender athlete would not be able to compete in the Olympics.

The post – which has been viewed 3.9 million times and liked 47,000 times – read: ‘Okay, but is anyone going to apologize for forcing us to undress with him 18 times a week?’.

This isn’t the first time Scanlan has spoken out against Thomas’ involvement in women’s sports, having previously lashed out at the Democratic party for putting “trans rights” above women’s fears.

While testifying last week before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, Scanlan raised the issue of transgender athletes competing in women’s sports.

She urged lawmakers to put women’s physical safety first when making decisions about women-only spaces such as locker rooms – after previously admitting she had “nightmares for weeks” after had shared a locker room with trans athletes.

After allegedly being the victim of sexual assault in a bathroom as a 16-year-old, Scanlan said Thomas’ presence brought back earlier traumas from her adolescence.

Speaking to the New York Post, Scanlan said: ‘In general, the bathroom was a place where I felt very uncomfortable. I would just relive the situation I went through when I was 16.

“I was standing at my locker and suddenly I heard a man’s voice, and I just jumped. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, someone got in here.’ It is incredibly fragile. I had nightmares for weeks about men being there while we were getting dressed.”

Thomas sparked a wave of controversy after she moved up to the women’s team in 2021. She set seven UPenn women’s team records (five individual) and won three individual events at the Ivy League Championships in February 2022.

Thomas defended her place in women’s swimming last year during an interview with Sports Illustrated. She started by saying, “I’m a woman, just like everyone else on the team. I’ve always seen myself as just a swimmer. This is what I have been doing for so long; it’s what I love.’

However, her critics even include people from the transgender community, with Olympic champion Caitlyn Jenner not agreeing that Thomas should be allowed to compete as a woman.

Scanlan says Thomas’ presence in women’s spaces made her and others uncomfortable

“I’ve been consistent in the way I’ve approached transgender athletes and it depends on the sport. Every sport is different,” she told Fox News earlier this year. “Obviously we saw with Lia Thomas that she had gone through male puberty and had a larger cardiovascular system, it just wasn’t fair.”

Although Thomas’ college career is over, Scanlan still believes it is an important topic as there will be similar cases in amateur and professional sports in the future.

“If there had been a guy on my team in high school, I would have quit and I literally would have nothing,” she told The Post. ‘I would never have gotten into a good university. My whole life would have been derailed.

“If this discourages even one girl from participating in sport, we have failed,” Scanlan added. ‘It’s so important to give girls the same opportunities.’