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A college teammate of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas is speaking out after anonymously participating in the Daily Wire’s 2022 documentary "What Is a Woman."
Paula Scanlan, who competed on the University of Pennsylvania women’s swimming team during the 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons, spoke with Daily Wire host Matt Walsh in a video posted to social media Monday night, saying she is ready to join former college swimmer Riley Gaines in "fighting for women and girls across the country."
University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, left, and Kentucky's Riley Gaines tied for 5th in the 200 freestyle finals during the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on March 18, 2022, at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta. (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Scanlan told Walsh that the UPenn athletic department informed the team in a meeting that Thomas’ spot on the women’s team was "non-negotiable" and that they would regret it if they spoke to the media.
After the meeting, Scanlan said she questioned whether her stance against Thomas’ ability to compete on the women’s team was wrong.
"After that meeting, they really scared us. It was scary, and I was petrified," Scanlan said. "I went home that night and I called my brother and said, ‘Can I even talk about this with you? Is there something wrong with me for thinking that this is wrong?’"
"It worked. The university wanted us to be quiet, and they did it in a very effective way. They continued to tell us that our opinions were wrong and that if we had an issue with it, we were the problem. And it’s frightening, and your future job is on the line."
"And after that point, no one would talk about it anymore," Scanlan continued. "They effectively silenced us even within talking to each other."
Fox News Digital reached out to the University of Pennsylvania for comment and had not heard back as of publication.
Pennsylvania's Lia Thomas prepares to compete in the women's 500-yard freestyle final at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
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Scanlan told Walsh that the UPenn women’s swimming team was informed in a fall 2019 team meeting led by Will Thomas – now known as Lia Thomas — that Thomas would be joining the women’s team the following season.
Scanlan described the early stages of having Lia Thomas on the women’s team.
"When this was first announced, we were maybe told Lia might be changing in a different locker room or might continue to stay in the men’s locker room," Scanlan said. "It was all kind of up in the air. And then I saw the locker room chart and saw that Lia definitely had a locker in the women’s room."
"So, that was confirmed that that was definitely going to be happening, and there was never really any further discussion about that."
Scanlan discussed how she and some of her teammates were uncomfortable with having Thomas in the locker room.
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"It was definitely uncomfortable," Scanlan said. "There’s a few bathroom stalls in the bathroom, and I did notice some girls changing in the bathroom stalls for practice, which I’ve never really seen that before."
University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas reacts after swimming the 100 freestyle prelims at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on March 19, 2022, at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta. (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
"For me personally, the biggest thing was just when you’re changing and there’s all these people talking in the background – you hear all these women’s voices, and then all the sudden you hear a man's voice – I would always kind of jump a little bit. Oh, maybe an employee of the building got into the locker room or is taking out the trash. And then I would jump and realize actually that’s a person on my team speaking. It’s actually just someone who sounds very masculine."
Thomas became the first transgender athlete to win a Division I championship in any sport, winning the 500-yard freestyle in 2022.
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