**Brave student athlete exposes university manipulation in transgender swimmer controversy. Paula Scanlan unveils her experience swimming alongside Lia Thomas, calling for accountability from universities promoting radical views.**
A Penn student athlete has courageously stepped forward to openly discuss concerns surrounding the participation of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, on the women’s swim team. Previously hiding her identity, Paula Scanlan highlights the intimidation tactics used by the university to silence athletes and calls for accountability from educational institutions.
Male swimmer Lia Thomas made headlines when he joined the University of Pennsylvania’s women’s swim team in 2021 after starting hormone replacement therapy in May 2019. His participation caused an uproar as he went on to break records and win the women’s NCAA Division I national championship in the 500-yard freestyle. Scanlan, listed as a senior on Penn Athletics’ Women’s Swimming and Diving Roster, shared her experience anonymously in the Daily Wire’s documentary “What Is a Woman?” but has now decided to speak out publicly.
Scanlan revealed the athletic department’s tactics to keep athletes quiet. “There was something going on in that athletic department that wanted to keep us quiet, and I was like, this is getting scary,” she commented. In an interview with Matt Walsh, she explains how some swimmers were persuaded by the university to support Lia’s inclusion on the women’s team: “She went crying to the athletic department… but she then was completely on board and thought Lia swimming was this magical, beautiful thing.”
Accountability
