A USA Swimming official has formally quit her job over University of Pennsylvania allowing transgender female swimmers to compete alongside biologically female swimmers.
Cynthia Millen stepped down last week after officiating USA Swimming meets for over 30 years.
“The fact is that swimming is a sport in which bodies compete against bodies. Identities do not compete against identities,” Millen said in an appearance on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” “Men are different from women, men swimmers are different from women, and they will always be faster than women.”
In her resignation letter, Millen said that she felt University of Pennsylvania transgender athlete Lia Thomas’s record-setting dominance of collegiate women’s swimming was grossly unfair, writing that she can “no longer participate in a sport that allows biological men to compete against women.”
“I don’t mean to be critical of Lia – whatever’s going on, Lia’s a child of God, a precious person – but bodies swim against bodies,” Millen told The Washington Times. “That’s a male body against females. And that male body can never change. That male body will always be a male body,” she added.
Miller also explained that physiological differences between males and females come to play in the swimming pool and can be advantageous and disadvantageous in different ways. “Boys are built differently than girls. I mean, we know that: Boys have the T-shape, the broad shoulders, the narrow hips, Girls have the hips, they’ve got more drag, they’ve got boobs, they’ve got body fat. Yes, a Katie Ledecky can beat a lot of guys, but in the end, the [best] guys are going to beat Katie Ledecky.”
Miller also disclosed that other officials agree with her but are not willing to speak about it due to fear of retaliaton. “I’ve talked to some other officials, and while they say yeah, this is ridiculous, I think a lot of people feel like they can’t do anything about it, but you’ve got to make a stand sometimes. If enough people walk off the deck, or if enough referees say no, it will change. It’s wrong,” Millen said.
Thomas previously competed as a man at Penn for two full seasons, which last happened in 2019.
NCAA rules dictate that transgender players must partake in one year of testosterone suppression before they can compete as women.
During a women’s competition at the Zippy Invitational at the University of Akron, Thomas earned a winning time of 4:34.06 in the 500-yard freestyle finals, hich is a new Ivy League record.
Millen said it would be a “travesty to throw away” the legacy of female Olympic swimmers, such as Janet Evans and Jenny Thompson.
“All these women who worked so hard before Title IX when they didn’t have the opportunities that men had. It would be such a shame, such a travesty to throw it away now. This is what will happen.”
