DeSantis announces that she has won second place in the NCAA Women’s Swimming Championships over Leah Thomas

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis He said he would make an announcement acknowledging the runner-up in the NCAA women’s 500-yard freestyle event as the winner instead of transgender athlete Leah Thomas.

“We will make an announcement saying that Emma [Weyant] She is the best swimmer “in the 500-yard freestyle event last week,” DeSantis said on Tuesday. You have earned it and we need to stop allowing organizations like the NCAA to perpetuate public fraud. “

Emma Wayant, A Olympic The medalist and a native of Florida attending the University of Virginia, lost to Thomas by 1.75 seconds in the 500-yard freestyle event last Thursday. She clocked a time of 4:34.99, trailing Thomas in the last 100 yards of the 500-meter freestyle. It was the fastest time in Weyant’s career, WFLA reported.

Twitter explodes over swimmer Leah Thomas who won national title: ‘A slap in the face for women and girls’

Thomas, a University of Pennsylvania swimmer, became the first transgender woman to win an award NCAA Swimming Championships.

“If you look at what The NCAA allowed mainly men To compete in women’s athletics, in this case swimming… The first woman to finish the race was from Sarasota, Emma Went. She won the silver, she’s been an absolute star her entire career,” DeSantis said.

LIA THOMAS WINS NCAA Women’s Swimming Championships in Atlanta Draws Presenters

FILE – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks at the opening of a monoclonal antibody site Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021 in Pembroke Pines, Florida (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
(AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

“Competing at this level is very tough. And you don’t just roll out of bed and do it. It takes persistence. It takes determination… I’ve had the fastest time of any woman in college athletics. Now the NCAA is in the Basically they’re making efforts to destroy women’s athletics. They’re trying to undermine the integrity of the competition, and someone else is being crowned the women’s champion, and we think that’s a mistake.”

Emma Wyant: NCAA Championship Runner-up Leah Thomas Won an Olympic Medal in 2021

Emma Wyant of Team USA poses with the silver medal in the women’s 400m individual medley final on day two of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Tokyo Aquatics Center on July 25, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.
(Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Thomas, who has swam for the men’s team before moving in To a female in 2019, he was criticized on Twitter after the race, with some saying they don’t recognize Thomas as the real winner.

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“A round of applause for Emma Wyant, the UV swimmer who finished second in the 500 Years Freestyle tonight, behind Lea Thomas. The second is the new first,” former Education Department Press Secretary Angela Morabito wrote.

Fox News’ Paulina Didage and Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.