“Come gather ’round people, wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon, you’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’, and you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone, for the times they are a-changin’.”
In reference to the last article concerning bending-genders as challenging the norms of society, the song “The Times They Are a-changin’” comes to mind. This anthem of change, written by folk singer Bob Dylan, has been influential as a voice to those seeking change regardless of perspective. In a 1985 interview, he shared with journalist Cameron Crowe his rationale for the ballad: “I wanted to write a big song, with short concise verses that piled up on each other in a hypnotic way. The civil rights movement and the folk music movement were pretty close for a while and allied together at that time.” The times indeed are changin’-for the worse, not for the better.
History makes it clear that we have been heading this direction for many years, where the acceptable proclamation went from, “a man that identifies as a woman,” to “a man who is now a woman.” As a result, there is a sincere belief that an individual can change their sex, much like Fred can change his name to Carl. Only now, Fred changes his name to Freida, removes his male genitalia, and engages in Estrogen Hormone Therapy.
Change is the New Same
Despite the rhetoric of society, things are not as they seem. While the known world seems only to happy to repeat idioms like “’…….’is the new normal,” what remains is everything but. To be clear, there are things that we simply accept as part of society. However, acceptance of anything does not automatically make it normal.
Recently, we have seen much attention on University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas. After realizing he is a woman, Thomas changed direction mid-swimming career, deciding to compete against the sex he now “identifies with.” Needless to say, with greater muscle mass, bone density and superior natural strength, he now dominates the once-female dominated division of NCAA women’s sports.
How much did Thomas outperform his biological female competitors?
Consider this offering from swimmingworldmagazine.com (“her” in the article refers to Thomas’ masquerading as a woman):
“In her final meet, Thomas finales in three events at the NCAA Championships, highlighted by a victory in the 500 freestyle. She also finished fifth in the 200 freestyle and was eighth in the 100 freestyle. Although she didn’t contest the event at the NCAA Champs, Thomas had one of the country’s top times in the 1650 freestyle. Here’s a look at her performances throughout the season, including their comparative status to her times as a member of Penn’s men’s squad.
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- In the 500 freestyle, Thomas’ time of 4:33.24 from her NCAA-title swim handed her the fastest time in the nation by more than a second over Arizona State’s Emma Nordin (4:34.87). Additionally, Thomas’ difference from her personal best with the Penn men’s program was just 6%, as opposed to the typical 10% to 11% difference generally seen between men and women.
- Thomas’ best time in the 200 freestyle ended up being her 1:41.93 mark from the Zippy Invitational in December. That effort ultimately ended up 3.76% slower than her best time before her transition. Again, that time was between 7% and 8% faster than the typical separation between men and women.
- When Thomas won the 200 freestyle at the Ivy League Champs in 1:43.12, she was even with runnerup Samantha Sheltonat the midway point, but crushed the Harvard swimmer over the last 100, highlighted by a 25.04 split for the last 50 yards. The closing split of Thomas was faster than the finishing laps of Missy Franklin in her American-record performance, and the best closing effort of the likes of Katie Ledecky, Mallory Comerford and Siobhan Haughey, among others.
- In the 100 freestyle, Thomas’ best time prior to her transition was 47.15. At the NCAA Championships, she posted a prelims time in the event of 47.37. That time reflects minimal mitigation of her male-puberty advantage.
- During the last season Thomas competed as a member of the Penn men’s team, which was 2018-19, she ranked 554th in the 200 freestyle, 65th in the 500 freestyle and 32nd in the 1650 freestyle. As her career at Penn wrapped, she moved to fifth, first and eighth in those respective events on the women’s deck.
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Born a biological, testosterone-filled man, record-shattering Lia Thomas easily continued to defeat the women he competed against that in no way could’ve prepared for competition with a male swimmer. However, Thomas’ ‘streak’ came to an end on January 8, 2022, in the form of Iszak Henig.
The Twilight Zone?
According to sportskeeda.com (his/he refers to Henig pretending to be a man), “Thomas was defeated twice, first in the 100-meter freestyle competition and then in the 400-meter freestyle relay. Henig completed the 400-meter freestyle relay in 50.45 seconds, crushed Thomas and his fellow competitors, and led Yale to victory. Thomas finished her lap of the race in 51.94 seconds. Additionally, Henig also achieved first place in the 50-meter freestyle, when he clocked in a time of 22.76 seconds.”
However, it was not until after the swim meet that it was revealed how what had been thus far impossible- suddenly became possible. Once completing the win, Henig pulled down the swimming costume to reveal two long scars under his chest area, having recently undergone breast-removal surgery.
Thomas had met his match: a “transgender” male swimmer.
Iszak (formally Izzy) was able to compete as a woman, reportedly not having begun a testosterone regiment. Per her Yale University profile, before joining the institution, Iszac Henig served as the captain of her high school swimming team. She currently holds a record in 50, 100, 200, and 500-meter freestyle swimming. It would be nearly one year later, that an ironic turn of events would take place.
In a foxnews.com/sports article concerning a November 2022 men’s swim meet, Henig would finally meet her own match- competing against biologically, testosterone-filled men. With all her previous swimming accolades and successes, she now found herself floundering and finishing 79th out of 83rd. Even after taking hormones for eight months amid her transition, the piece stated that the senior’s times are “about the same as they were at the end of last season.”
“I wasn’t the slowest guy in any of my events,” Henig added, “but I’m not as successful in the sport as I was on the women’s team.” The article goes on to state that, “several days prior, in a meet against Columbia, Henig finished in 10th out of 11 in the 200-yard freestyle and 11th out of 12 in the 100-yard free. His 400-yard freestyle relay finished in last place out of five teams, and his swim time was the slowest of all swimmers in that race.
Fall From Grace
As a high-schooler, Henig (then Izzy) competed in the 2016 Olympic trials and was one of the top 100 female swimmers in the country two years later. While Henig claims that his goal isn’t “necessarily” to win as a man, this writer questions the veracity of such a statement. After all, why join a competition you lack the ability to even remotely succeed in?
Unfortunately, these swimmers and their desires skirt a much larger problem. Despite how the media and others flaunt these detrimental lifestyle choices, their lack of regard and concern for the impressionable youth being dragged down these slippery slopes is mind-blowing.
As children, many of us saw stars like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Michelle Kwan, Tiger Woods, Michael Phelps and Danica Patrick. Though they were varied races, we looked at them and thought, “I could be the next “……”!”
However, it wasn’t the women that wanted to wear Michael’s Jordans, nor were the men desiring to fill Michele Kwan’s ice skates. Again, Dylan was right; “The times, they are a-changin’”- but not for the better, and not for our children. Anything you can do, I do better? I can do anything better than you? Well, when it comes to “Lia” being more woman than women, and “Iszac” being more man than men- no you can’t, no you can’t, no…….you can’t.
