UPenn swimmer opens up on what it was really like sharing a locker room with trans rival Lia Thomas

A former teammate of Lia Thomas' has revealed what it was like to share a locker room with the transgender swimmer, who saw their records at the University of Pennsylvania erased last week.

The Department of Education announced on Tuesday that Penn was adopting strict definitions for male and female competitors under White House guidelines, adding that the school will ban trans athletes from women's competitions.

In the wake of that decision, Thomas' former teammate Margot Kaczorowski exclusively told the Daily Mail that her experience sharing a locker room with the trans athlete amounted to 'sexual harassment.'

Now, another one of Thomas' former Penn teammates has spoken out.

Monika Burzynska told Fox News Digital that she began changing in the corner of the room - and later in stalls - when Thomas became part of the women's swimming team.

'Around Lia, I wasn't going to risk anything,' Burzynska said.

Burzynska recalled thinking how 'it must be terrible to feel like you're trapped in the wrong body,' but admitted she came to believe it was 'not fair' for Thomas to be competing with her. 

'...You have these issues that are from afar and you never really quite think they're going to touch you personally until you're on a team with Lia Thomas and your locker is directly next to this biological male. And you would have never believed that you'd be facing this issue directly,' said Burzynska.

'And then when that happens, your views change where you still feel sorry for this person because they're clearly so deeply lost. But then it turns into more, 'OK, this is not fair.''

Burzynska's comments echo what Kaczorowski told the Daily Mail, as the latter said she 'tried to be on the opposite side of the locker room' from Thomas.

Burzynska, who had a locker next to Thomas, added that she at times waited to change until Thomas was showering.

She also said that Thomas, who joined Penn's women's team in 2021, 'wasn't very social' with other members of the squad.

Still, she said that last week's news that Penn was wiping Thomas' records gave her 'a deep sense of peace and validation.'

'Not only for me, but for all the girls on the team, for all the girls in the swim world and in the sport world. And I think this decision, it brought back – at least for me – a sense of fairness that had been lost. Women's records belong to women and that protecting the integrity of women's sports still matters.'

US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon described Tuesday  as a 'great victory for women and girls.'

The move came after President Donald Trump previously made the decision to freeze $175 million in federal funding to the school. It's not clear, based on an email from Penn athletic director Alanna Wren to swimmers, whether that funding freeze played a role in the decision.

Thomas won a national title as a woman in the 500 free while tying for fifth in the 200 free at the 2022 NCAA Finals with Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, who has since become the face of the movement to ban trans athletes from female sports. 

Gaines was among the first to issue a statement on the ruling Tuesday. 

'From day one, President Trump and [Education] Secretary [Linda] McMahon made it clear that protecting women and girls is a top priority—and today's agreement with UPenn is proof of that commitment in action.'

'This Administration isn't just talking about women's equality, but instead actively defending it. I hope this sends a clear message to educational institutions: you can no longer disregard women's civil rights. And to every female athlete, know this: your dignity, safety, and fairness matter, and our nation's leaders will not stop fighting for them

The NCAA changed its policy on February 6 after Trump signed an executive order on banning transgender athletes from girls' and women's sports.