EXCLUSIVE: 'It's impossible to beat her': Despondent female rival says swimming against trans Lia Thomas is 'intimidating' and 'discouraging' after teammates spoke out and said 'everyone knows it's wrong'

 A third female swimmer has spoken out to voice her frustrations of competing against UPenn transgender swimmer Lia Thomas saying that it is 'impossible' to beat her.

Thomas broke two national records when she competed in the female races at the Zippy Invitational earlier this month. She previously competed on the UPenn men's swim team for three years before transitioning and undergoing hormone treatments for nearly two and a half years.  

A female swimmer from Niagara University who wishes to remain anonymous and competed against Thomas at the Zippy Invitational told of the intimidation and discouragement she felt racing the transgender athlete.  

'Swimming against Lia Thomas was intimidating,' the senior at Niagara University  said. 'It was hard going into a race knowing there was no way I was going to get first.'

'I knew I could drop my time but I also knew there was no way I would physically be able to beat her in the race or even catch up to her,' the collegiate athlete said.

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A third female swimmer has spoken out to voice her frustrations of competing against UPenn transgender swimmer Lia Thomas (Pictured: Lia Thomas competing for UPenn Swim 2021)

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The senior from Niagara University competed against Thomas at the Zippy Invitational earlier this month when Thomas shattered two national records (Pictured: Lia Thomas is seen beating her female competitors) 

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'Swimming against Lia...I knew deep down it was going to be impossible for me to swim as fast as her,' the anonymous collegiate athlete admitted to DailyMail.com 

'It’s hard working your whole life at a sport and going to big competitions and seeing someone who is more physically talented than you, however it is even more discouraging to have them right next to you and knowing you won’t ever be on the same physical level as them.'

Thomas was able to switch to the women's team after completing a year of hormone treatments, in accordance to NCAA regulations. 

The transgender athlete shared that the treatments have caused muscle and strength loss making 'nowhere close' to her best pre-transition speeds as a male swimmer, which would come within split seconds of shattering some female world records. 

'Swimming against Lia...I knew deep down it was going to be impossible for me to swim as fast as her,' the discouraged athlete admitted.

'At the end of the day I respect her decision to complete and I do feel that people are going to have a bad reaction to her life choices which isn’t fair on her. But from an athletic standpoint I do see why a lot of athletes are going to be upset,' she said.

In the three years Thomas competed on the men's team at UPenn Will recorded his best times in the 200 Free at 1:39:31, his 500 Free at 4:18:72, and his 1,650 at 14:54:76, according to Outkick.

The current NCAA women's records for those events are currently held by Olympic gold medalists. Missy Franklin holds the record for the 200 Free at 1:39:10. Katie Ledecky set the records for the 500 Free at 4:24:06 and the 1,650 Free at 15:03:31.

Since competing on the women's team this season, Thomas has swam the 200 Free at 1:41:93, the 500 Free at 4:34:06, and 1,650 Free at 15:59:71.

Thomas's winning time of 15:59:71, less than a minute off the world-record pace of 15:03.31 set by US Olympic champion Katie Ledecky in 2017.

Thomas's win was a record for the Zippy Invitational, and the pool where the event took place. Only five swimmers broke 16 minutes at last season's NCAA championships. 

The winning result also meets the NCAA standard required to qualify, which means Thomas will be automatically entered to compete in the national championship meet in Atlanta in March 2022.

In the week after the Zippy Invitational, two of Thomas' female UPenn teammates anonymously spoke out about their frustrations of having a transgender teammate. 

The first anonymous female swimmer from UPenn told sports website OutKick that she and most of her female teammates are upset because their coach, Mike Schnur, is allowing a transgender athlete to take a woman's spot because he 'just really likes winning.' 

She would only speak to OutKick on the condition of anonymity because she's afraid that making comments about a trans athlete will hurt her chances of getting a job after she graduates. 

'Pretty much everyone individually has spoken to our coaches about not liking this,' the anonymous Ivy League athlete told Outkick in their interview, published Thursday. 'Our coach just really likes winning. He's like most coaches. I think secretly everyone just knows it's the wrong thing to do.'

Schnur did not respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment. He lists his pronouns as 'he, him, his' on his UPenn biography page. According to his bio, he has a wife and one child and has coached the swim team for 17 seasons.

Thomas specifically notes Schnur's support of her transition and switch to the woman's team calling him one of her 'biggest supporters and allies in this process since day one.' 

Thomas also noted her teammates as a continued support system through her transition and the national criticism she has since faced.

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Thomas has said that she believes it is fair for her to compete against females and does not believe she has an advantage over them 

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Thomas previously competed on the UPenn men's swim team for three years as Will before transitioning. Will's times are seconds away from shattering women's world records 

'The team has been unbelievably supportive since the beginning, you know, teammates and coaches. Mike has been one of my biggest supporters and allies in this process since day one and I'm very grateful to have that support from him and from everybody on the team. I feel very supported. Just treated like any other member of the women's team,' she said.

But the first unidentified female swimmer told OutKick that support is 'fake.'

'When the whole team is together, we have to be like, “Oh my gosh, go Lia, that's great, you're amazing.“ It's very fake,' she said.

'The Ivy League is not a fast league for swimming, so that's why it's particularly ridiculous that we could potentially have an NCAA champion. That's unheard of coming from the Ivy League,' the swimmer explained.

'On paper, if Lia Thomas gets back down to Will Thomas' best times, those numbers are female world records. Faster than all the times [Olympic swimmer] Katie Ledecky went in college. Faster than any other Olympian you can think of. His times in three events are [female] world records.'

Thomas began transitioning in May 2019 and came out to her team in early fall of 2019. After a year of hormone treatments, as required by the NCAA, Thomas submitted medical paperwork documenting her year of treatment and was approved to switch to the women's team. 

She has since been on her daily hormone treatments for nearly two and a half years. 

'One year doesn't mean anything. What about the years of puberty as a male, the male growth you went through as a man?' the first unnamed female athlete told Outkick.

'There are a bunch of comments on the Internet about how, “Oh, these girls are just letting this happen. They should just boycott or protest.“ At the end of the day, it's an individual sport. If we protest it, we're only hurting ourselves because we're going to miss out on all that we've been working for,' she pointed out.

'When I have kids, I kinda hope they're all boys because if I have any girls that want to play sports in college, good luck. [Their opponents] are all going to be biological men saying that they're women,' Thomas' teammate said.

'Right now we have one, but what if we had three on the team? There'd be three less girls competing.'

A second female swimmer from the UPenn swim team anonymously voiced her complaints about Thomas' spot on the women's team despite the entire team being 'strongly advised' not to speak to the media.

Nevertheless, the second teammate stepped forward to explain how UPenn swimmers are 'angry' over what has been perceived as a 'lack of fairness' as Thomas smashes record after record in the pool.

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UPenn swim team recently posted about one of Lia's records in the 500m freestyle (pictured)

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An anonymous female UPenn swimmer said she and other teammates have discussed their frustration with Thomas' (right) place on their team with coach Mike Schnur (left) but said he 'just likes winning' 

The second anonymous swimmer to speak out over Thomas' performance said UPenn swimmers were upset and crying as they knew their times were going to be obliterated by her.

'They feel so discouraged because no matter how much work they put in it, they're going to lose. Usually, they can get behind the blocks and know they out-trained all their competitors and they're going to win and give it all they've got,' the source said to Outkick.  

'Now they're having to go behind the blocks knowing no matter what, they do not have the chance to win. I think that it's really getting to everyone.

'Usually everyone claps, everyone is yelling and cheering when someone wins a race. Lia touched the wall and it was just silent in there. When fellow Penn swimmer Anna Kalandadze finished second, the crowd erupted in applause.'

Thomas' record breaking time beat her teammate Anna Sofia Kalandaze out of first place by 38 seconds at the swim meet. 

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Fellow UPenn swimmer Anna Sofia Kalandaze finished in second place 38 seconds behind Thomas in the 1,650-yard freestyle race at the Zippy Invitational 

The second anonymous source who spoke to Outkick claimed that after the race, Thomas could be overheard bragging.

'That was so easy, I was cruising,' Thomas is alleged to have said before bragging in front of her teammates 'At least I'm still No. 1 in the country,' while claiming she was unhappy with her time in the 500.

'Well, obviously she's No. 1 in the country because she's at a clear physical advantage after having gone through male puberty and getting to train with testosterone for years,' OutKick's source said.

'Of course you're No. 1 in the country when you're beating a bunch of females. That's not something to brag about,' she said. 

'Honestly, this is so upsetting to us because we want to be acknowledged for our hard work, but it seems like this just keeps overshadowing us. Put Lia out of the picture — we have a really good team this year. We have one of the best teams we've had in years, and that's being overshadowed by [Lia],' Thomas' teammate said.

'Even without Lia, we had the chance to win the Ivy League this year, which is a huge deal for us. We train every single day and give up so much for this sport. And I love swimming. I do it because I love it. It's been a part of my life forever, and this is a slap in the face that the NCAA doesn't care about the integrity of women's sports.'

Penn's administration has backed Thomas publicly and says she is staying on the team and not going anywhere, with coach Schnur also lying low and staying out of the spotlight.

'He is just following the NCAA rules and the situation is out of his hands,' the source said. 

The non-negotiable position has now left teammates feeling as though they have no choice but to speak out and risk repercussions.

'While they say they care about all of us, our interests are in direct conflict with the interests of Lia in regards to fair competition and getting to compete. While we support Lia as a person to make decisions for her own life, you cannot make that decision and then come and impede on other people and their rights,' the source continued. 'Your right doesn't supersede everyone else's right.'

'I don't know what the solution is, but I know this is not it. Because people talk about how the trans community might've been marginalized before and this is supposed to be helping, but you can't help the trans community by marginalizing [biological] women.'

'I know no matter what, biological women will never be on an equal playing field with transgender females.'

However, Thomas believes that the regulations that allow her to compete on the women's team are fair and keep 'competitional integrity going.' 

The controversy surrounding the surrounding Thomas' historic wins and place on the women's team come as the nation continues to debate the place of transgender athletes. 

Several states have proposed bills to outlaw transgender athletes from competing on teams that align with their gender but require athletes to compete against those of their biological sex or the sex that listed on their birth certificate.