Upenn Swimmer breaks the silence by sharing a locker room with Lia Thomas

Monica Burzinska, a former University of Pennsylvania swimmer, said she was assigned to the locker next door. Leah Thomas When a transgender athlete joined the women’s swimming team in 2021. Burzynska previously knew athletes, as did Will Thomas, a member of Upenn’s men’s swimming team.

“He wasn’t very sociable,” Burzinska told Fox News Digital, adding that she had only had a short conversation so far. With Thomas.

She thought Thomas had already graduated when he covered the news that athletes would transition to join the women’s team from the 2021-22 season.

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When that season finally began and Thomas became the fixture for the women’s locker room, Burzinska often retreated to the corner of the room and changed. Bruzinska also timed exactly when Thomas was in the shower. Finally, Burzynska chose to change only at the food stall or family lockers across the hall.

“Around Leah, I put nothing in danger,” Burzinska said.

Burzynska had never spoken about her previous experience with joining Thomas with her team in recent news that Upenn apologized to all female swimmers, withdraws Thomas’ program records and adopts a new policy that applies strict biological definitions to men and women.

She said the news “gived her a deep sense of peace and validation.”

“Not only for me, but for every girl on the team, for every girl in the swimming world and the sports world. And I think this decision, at least for me, brought about a sense of fairness that has been lost,” Burzinka said. “Women’s records belong to women, and protecting the integrity of women’s sports remains important.”

Still, a memory of the burzinska and others having to endure the prolonged lingering.

Burzynska identifies him as someone with conservative values, but says he grew up feeling “compassionate” with transgender people. Her view changed when she was placed next to Thomas in the locker room.

“I thought it must be awful to feel like you’re trapped in the wrong body. I’m not in contact with who you really are,” Burzinka said. “You have these issues from afar and they will never touch you personally until you are on a team with Leah Thomas. Your locker is right next to this biological man.

“And when that happens, your view changes where you still feel sorry for this person, as you are clearly deeply lost.

Burzinska, a native of Colonia, New Jersey, explained that she grew up in a liberal environment with prominent Pro-LGBTQ sentiment. These values ​​followed her when she went to Upen, a deep blue city in Philadelphia.

“Like the deep LGBTQ presence on campus, which is the presence of campus buildings and dorms, how do we call it very, very, very, very,?

“So, in a way, if a person is very confused about their identity, you can say that they encourage it, and I think this group is saying that they are so embracing, loving and can you want to be.

Burzynska and other female swimmers on the team at the time were allegedly forced into silence and submission by the UPenn administrators.

Litigation Three other former Thomas teammates, Grace, Estabrook, Margot Kakorowski and Ellen Holmquist, allegedly pressured university officials to not talk about their idea that Thomas would be made public to the team.

“The UPenn administrators have told women that if women publicly spoke about concerns about Thomas’ participation in the women’s team, the reputation of those complaining about Thomas’ being on the team will be contaminated with transphobia for the rest of their lives and will likely not be able to get a job,” he claimed.

Upenn agrees to follow Trump’s mission on protecting women’s sports after Lia Thomas’ investigation

Growing up in a liberal New Jersey town, Burzinska was already used to the consequences of sharing conservative values ​​in a liberal setting.

Burzynska recalls that from a young age, he has often been criticized for having “conservative or Republican values.”

“I was going through it forever, and I think it’s all university at this point, but Upenn is very, very, very left and right. And my opinion is because most of my life has been conservative, because my beliefs are based on faith.”

Brutsinska recalls a useless conversation with her head coach, Mike Schnoor, as she stands up to him with concern about being on the team with Thomas.

“We were having this long meeting, almost two hours long. And he said, “Listen, Monica, I understand all your concerns. They are all valid. I don’t think anyone of you will discourage you from continuing to make your fourth year a success.”

“I said to him at the meeting, ‘What are you talking about? Yes, what do you think of this?” And his response was, “It’s not fair, but if you have any issues with it, don’t talk to us.”

Burzynska said she never took Chenour into the offer, believing he would do nothing about it anyway.

Still, she claims she witnessed her teammates having a useless conversation with Chenour from afar.

Then came the administrator who allegedly pressured a female swimmer who opposed Thomas to go to Pro-LGBTQ counseling. Burzynska said he called the counseling session “brainwashing meeting.”

She has never attended a session.

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Since then, Burzynska has moved out of circumstances and has embraced her life and career beyond.

Still, she acknowledges that some of the situation has instilled her “trauma” and appreciates President Donald Trump’s administration making it a priority to plant the outcomes in Upenn.

“It’s amazing that Penn’s (women’s) rights have obviously compromised, so it’s amazing that they looked into it and Trump took it seriously,” Burzinka said.

Fox News Digital has contacted Upenn in response to Burzynska’s statement.

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