After three years of competing for the men’s team, a transgender swimmer from Ramapo College of New Jersey broke a record for the women’s team over the weekend.
At the two-day Cougar Splash Invitational in Dallas, Pennsylvania, Meghan Cortez-Fields swam the 100-yard butterfly in 57.22 seconds, good enough for first place and the school record. The tournament featured six schools. In addition to her 200-yard butterfly and individual medley victories, she also placed first and second, respectively.
After former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines brought attention to the competition results on X, the Ramapo swim team removed its Instagram post congratulating Cortez-Fields for breaking the school record.
It takes incompetence or misogyny on the part of those who choose to ignore the unfairness of giving record-breaking female athletes the opportunity to compete with average male competitors. Gaines, a representative for the Independent Women’s Forum, stated to Zobuz News that the middle ground no longer exists. “Women are being asked to smile and step aside and allow these men onto our teams all the while stripping us of opportunities, privacy and safety.”
“The incident at Ramapo College shouldn’t be a shock to anyone considering we’ve seen virtually the same story time and time again with no people in leadership positions willing to take a stand for women,” Gaines, an Outkick contributor and podcast host who herself faced a trans competitor, added.
Zobuz News was informed by a Ramapo representative that the institution “supports all of our student athletes.”
“The original post of Meghan’s achievement was deleted by a peer who wanted to protect their teammate from insulting comments on the post,” according to the spokeswoman. “The College continues to post team and individual student-athlete achievements for all programs on our Athletics website.”
“As a member affiliate of the NCAA, Ramapo College Athletics follows all NCAA policies, including the NCAA Transgender Student Participation Policy,” according to the spokeswoman.
As a senior, Cortez-Fields switched to swimming for the Ramapo women’s team after three years on the men’s squad. She had previously expressed her admiration for transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, who won the 2022 NCAA title while competing for the University of Pennsylvania, to The Ramapo News.
While some praised Thomas for her courage, others, like Gaines, said that she was unfairly preventing biological girls from competing and winning.
T. “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,” added Cortez. “Even going into this season, I had a fear of succeeding, because I don’t want what happened to her to happen to me.”
So far this year, Cortez-Fields has won a minimum of one heat in three of the four women’s meets.
Veronica Baxter is a writer, blogger, and legal assistant operating out of the greater Philadelphia area.
