Another man claiming to be a woman has claimed a title in women’s swimming.
Meghan Cortez-Fields, a swimmer at Ramapo College of New Jersey who identifies as a woman and swam for the men’s team for three years, broke the girls’ school record in the 100-yard butterfly, recording a time of 57.22 at the Cougar Splash Invitational. Cortez-fields also won the 200-yard individual medley and second place in the 200-yard butterfly.
Lia Thomas 2.0
“Meghan Cortez-Fields won first place and broke a school record in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 57.22 at the Cougar Splash Invitational, a two-day meet between six schools in Dallas, Pennsylvania. He also came in first place in the 200-yard individual… pic.twitter.com/BEKkhXEHHN
— Jon Root (@JonnyRoot_) November 21, 2023
In 2022, Cortez-Fields told The Ramapo News, “I choose to tape my breasts because I feel it is very uncomfortable and kind of dehumanizing to swim without a top,” adding that he was allowed to use the general women’s locker room but not the women’s team locker room.
“It’s telling me that you can either change in a space you feel uncomfortable with, but with your team, or change in a space you feel comfortable with, but without your team,” Cortez-Fields charged. “Some of my teammates on the women’s team change with me because they feel like, ‘Oh, it’s stupid. I’ll just change out here with you. Why would I be in there when you’re out here all alone?’”
Cortez-Fields spoke of admiring University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, saying that Thomas “is an inspiration to me in that way, but also I felt so bad for her because I know exactly what she was going through. Even going into this season, I had a fear of succeeding, because I don’t want what happened to her to happen to me.”
“I think I’m in a very unique position being one of the first [openly transgender athletes] here at Ramapo,” Cortez-Fields continued. “I’m making [these posts] in hopes that people can see what I’m going through and to show I can do this. Trans people can do this, but at the same time there are some difficulties.”
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Gary Orr, coach of the men’s swim team, said, “Inclusive environments require trust and respect. As coaches, though, it’s really important that we model these behaviors with our student athletes. We also have to be willing to learn and I learn from my student athletes every day.”