Paula Scanlan, Lia Thomas’s former UPenn swim teammate, said she had ‘NIGHMARES for weeks’ after sharing the locker room with the transgender athlete
- Lia Thomas set records as a women’s swimmer at UPenn after her transition
- But teammate Paula Scanlan felt “incredibly uncomfortable” with her presence
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A former teammate of Lia Thomas at the University of Pennsylvania has said she had “nightmares” after sharing a locker room with the transgender swimmer.
Paula Scanlan, who was reportedly a victim of sexual assault in a bathroom as a 16-year-old, said Thomas’s presence brought up previous traumas from her adolescence.
“In general, bathrooms were a place where I felt very uncomfortable,” she told the New York Post. “I would just relive the situation I went through when I was 16.
“I’d be at my locker and then all of a sudden hear a male voice, and I’d just jump.” “I was like, ‘Oh my god, someone got in here.'”
“It’s incredibly fragile,” Scanlan continued. “I’ve had nightmares for weeks that men were there while we were getting dressed.”
Lia Thomas broke records as a women’s swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania
But her presence made some teammates, including Paula Scanlan, uncomfortable
Thomas, who previously competed on the UPenn men’s swim team, was concerned about fairness after moving to the women’s team in 2021.
She set seven UPenn women’s team records (five individually) and won three individual events at the Ivy League Championships in February 2022.
Thomas defended her place in women’s swimming in an interview with Sports illustrated last year.
“I’m a woman, just like everyone else on the team,” she said.
‘I’ve always seen myself as a swimmer. It’s what I’ve been doing for so long; I love that.’
However, her critics even included those in the transgender community, with Olympic champion Caitlyn Jenner disagreeing with Thomas being allowed to compete as a woman.
“I’ve been consistent in how I’ve approached transgender athletes and it depends on the sport. Every sport is different,” she told Fox News earlier this year.
“Of course we saw with Lia Thomas that she had gone through male puberty, a larger cardiovascular system, it just wasn’t fair.”
Scanlan, whose college swimming career is over, testified in defense of women’s sport
Scanlan (who is a UPenn graduate) testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government last week, speaking on the issue of transgender athletes in sports.
Although Thomas’ college career is over, Scanlan still believes the issue is important.
“If there had been a guy on my team in high school, I would have dropped out and literally have nothing,” she told The Post. ‘I would never have ended up at a good university. My whole life would have been derailed.
“If this discourages even one girl from playing sports, we’ve failed,” added Scanlan. ‘It’s so important to give girls the same opportunities.’