Reka Gyorgy: Slamming the NCAA After Being Beaten by Lia Thomas
3 min read
A Virginia Tech swimmer named Reka Gyorgy blasted the NCAA’s rules allowing transgender women to compete against biological women, after coming up short in a championship qualifying race that was dominated by University of Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas,
Reka Gyorgy made the comments in a post to her private Instagram account after missing the cut for the NCAA 500-yard freestyle finals on Thursday.
Gyorgy said the rule was disrespectful to transgender women competing in the NCAA. She says that it does not promote the sport in a positive light. The rule has come under fire since Stephanie Thomas set countless records in her first season competing as a transgender woman at a collegiate level.
Who is Reka Gyorgy?
Reka Gyorgy, an athlete at Virginia Tech, studied Human Development and Family Studies. She worked both with Virginia Tech Adult Day Service and Warm Heart Village as a social worker. In addition, she volunteered at Virginia Tech Sports Medicine.
According to her LinkedIn profile, she is a student-athlete at Virginia Tech. She has represented the Hokies for 6 years, both domestically and internationally. She is graduating in May 2022 with a dual degree in Human Development and Psychology.
Gyorgy’s letter to the NCAA
Gyorgy wrote in a letter to the NCAA, which she posted to her private Instagram account, “With all due respect, I would like to address something that is a problem in our sport right now and hurting athletes, especially female swimmers.”
“It doesn’t promote our sport in a positive way, and I think it’s disrespectful to the biologically female swimmers who compete in the NCAA,” Gyorgy said of the rule. which has come under fire after Thomas broke records in her first season competing at the collegiate level as a transgender woman.
WOW: Virginia Tech swimmer Reka Gyorgy says her finals spot was stolen from her by Lia Thomas because of "the @NCAA's decision to let someone who is not a biological female to compete." pic.twitter.com/vrtEfqZ0LW
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) March 20, 2022
Gyorgy competed in the 200-meter backstroke at the 2016 Summer Olympics as a Hungarian. The NCAA’s decision to allow someone who isn’t a biological female to compete robs her of the final spot, she writes. She said she can’t help but feel angry or sad even though she could have swum faster and gotten into the top 16. But the situation makes it a bit different.
Who is Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer?
Swimmer Thomas, 22, is transgender and attends the University of Pennsylvania. Before his transition, Thomas competed at Penn as a man for three years, Will Thomas. The time Thomas set for the 200-meter freestyle was 1:43:47 last year. And the time he set for the 500-meter freestyle was 4:35:06.
In the NCAA Women’s Championships, Thomas would have finished second and third, respectively, with these times, which were Penn records.
Thomas’s accomplishment raises questions about how fair it is that men born as women compete as women. On the field, on the court, on the track, and in the pool, there has been a lot of debate regarding what constitutes fair play.
Ankita Khanrah
Ankita Khanrah is a second-year student of the Master of Communication and Journalism (Integrated) programme at the School of Mass Communication, KIIT Deemed University, Bhubaneswar.
