Swim Parents Speak Out As Penn Transgender Swimmer Lia Thomas Is Beaten By Yale's Transgender Swimmer

Swim parents who attended Saturday's tri-meet at the University of Pennsylvania where transgender swimmer Lia Thomas lost to Yale's transgender swimmer Iszac Henig say the NCAA needs to take a long look at the transgender athlete rules it has created and how those rules have negatively affected their biological daughters.

"It starts with the NCAA," parents of a Penn swimmer told Fox News. "I think the NCAA needs to change its policies, and find a way to include transgender women without trampling all over biological women."

Thomas once again won the 200 & 500-meter races Saturday, but her times weren't as dominant as they had been in December when she was humiliating opponents. Spectators told The Daily Mail that it appeared Thomas was "coasting" and "barely trying" during the 500-freestyle.

While their daughters are being destroyed by Thomas in the pool, one Penn swimmer's parents told Fox that their issue isn't with Lia personally, but this situation has directly affected their daughter because she swims the same events.

"When she came on to the team, she had dreams of maybe breaking some records, things like that and that may not be possible now," the swimmer's parents told Fox. "And she's angry that she sees her friends being bumped from relays or a roster that travels to a meet."

Penn swim parent Sue Feldman reiterated to Fox the sentiment that had been shared by a Penn swimmer during a December interview with OutKick.

"It's hard to get up on the blocks and know that you probably have very limited chance of winning, but that can happen against anyone really, if you're coming against Katie Ledecky, you'd have the same problem."

Penn's Lia Thomas / Yale transgender swimmer Iszac Henig

The Penn parents received Olympic support for their cause in late December when swimmer Erika Brown, who won two medals at the Tokyo Games, spoke out against Thomas and transgender swimmers competing against biological females.

“I want to share something that’s been on my heart regarding what is going on in USA Swimming at the moment. I believe that we are all God’s children and we are called to love one another. I don’t want to create any hate, only speak up for what is right,” Brown wrote.

Lia Thomas swam as Will Thomas at Penn for three seasons / via UPenn / Facebook

“We cannot allow transgender females to compete against biological women. A biological male goes through male puberty. Even when she has transitioned, she still has the physiology of a male. A few years of testosterone blockers and estrogen doesn’t change the fact that she will have more powerful muscles, a larger heart and greater lung capacity than a biological woman.

“It’s time to start standing up for women’s sports, before we lose what so many before us have fought for. I hope that this can help inspire others to speak up.”

Even with new pressure mounting against what is seen as an unfair advantage for Thomas -- those advantages have been described as the advantages "doped" Olympians have enjoyed -- the Ivy League and Penn will not be impeding Thomas' path to possible national championships. The conference and the school say the NCAA has ruled and that's the way it's going to be.

Meets against Harvard and West Chester remain on the Penn swimming schedule before the Ivy League Championships February 16-19. Thomas will then swim at the NCAA Championships in March.