Allowing biological males to compete against females could be the end of women's sports

"When Lia Thomas stepped up on the block for what ended up being a gold medal-winning performance, I couldn't help but notice how the competitors in the lanes beside her looked defeated even before the starter said, 'take your mark.'" https://t.co/74obCSjyTq via @Nat_Dowzicky

— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) March 18, 2022

Reason’s Natalie Dowzicky writes, “As a former NCAA Division I swimmer, I've tried to calculate how much total time I spent swimming or training, and it's in the ballpark of 21,900 hours—2 and a half years of my life. Lia Thomas spent a majority of those same hours training with the advantage of greater muscle density and bone mass, a larger heart, and deeper lung capacity. In the end, there can only be three people on the podium, and who ends up there is about biology and luck, as much as it is about skill and perseverance.

But when Lia Thomas stepped up on the block for what ended up being a gold medal-winning performance, I couldn't help but notice how the competitors in the lanes beside her, who trained just as hard and just as long, looked defeated even before the starter said, ‘take your mark.’ And I'm afraid that fewer young women will choose to put on their matching swimsuits, goggles, and caps to dive into a cold pool each and every morning, because they lack confidence in what the rules will be when they get to the pinnacle of their careers and whether they will have even a fighting chance at being a champion.”

Read the entire column.