Transgender swimmer at New Jersey liberal arts college smashes women’s 100 yard butterfly record after competing in men’s team for three years – as Riley Gaines slams athlete’s ‘hyper-fetishized’ tattoo

• Meghan Cortez-Fields took first place and broke Ramapo College’s 100 yard women’s butterfly record
• She won this and the 200 yard individual medley at the Cougar Splash Invitational in Pennsylvania on Saturday
• Her win in the female division comes after she spent three seasons competing with the men’s team 

A transgender swimmer at a New Jersey liberal arts college has broken her school’s record after transferring from the men’s team.

Meghan Cortez-Fields smashed Ramapo College’s record for the 100 yard butterfly with a time of 57.22 which earned her first place.

She also scooped the top spot in the 200 yard individual medley and second in the 200 yard butterfly at the Cougar Splash Invitational, a two-day meet between six schools in Dallas, Pennsylvania.

The senior was initially congratulated on social media by her school following her victory on Saturday, but the post was deleted following a backlash led by former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines.

Gaines, an ambassador for the Independent Women’s Forum, said Cortez-Fields had gone from a ‘less than mediocre male swimmer to a record smasher competing against the women’.

Transgender swimmer Meghan Cortez-Fields broke Ramapo College’s women’s 100 yard butterfly and took first place after transferring from the men’s team

The chemistry major also claimed the top spot in the 200 yard individual medley and second in the 200 yard butterfly at the Cougar Splash Invitational in Dallas, Pennsylvania

Cortez-Fields had competed with Ramapo’s men’s team for three seasons prior to switching to the women’s team

‘Those who choose to remain blind to the injustice of allowing mediocre male athletes to become record-breaking female athletes are either incompetent or misogynists,’ she told Fox New. ‘There is no in between anymore.

‘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.’ 

She also claimed a tattoo on Cortez-Fields’ body, which shows a nude woman with male genitalia, was evidence of a ‘fetishized and sexualized movement’.

‘As a Christian, I believe we are all made in the image of God, and this is a mockery of that,’ she added.

Cortez-Fields, from College Station, Texas, had competed on Ramapo’s men’s team for three seasons prior to switching to the women’s roster.

After coming out, she began swimming with her chest taped, since the men’s division did not permit her to cover her top half and she found it ‘very uncomfortable and kind of dehumanizing’ to swim without a top.

The chemistry major is one of Ramapo’s first openly transgender athletes and counts transgender swimmer Lia Thomas among her heroes.

 The athlete has previously spoken about the challenges of competing as a trans person, revealing she was forced to tape her chest if she wanted to cover up while swimming for the men’s team as guidelines do not permit the use of swimsuits

Her victory prompted a backlash from the likes of NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines who called the win ‘injustice’ 

Cortez-Fields is one of Ramapo’s only openly trans athletes and has cited fellow trans swimmer Lia Thomas as an inspiration

NCAA swimmer Thomas has faced similar criticism after winning in women’s categories, despite previously competing on the men’s swim team at the University of Pennsylvania. 

In March 2022,  Thomas became the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I swimming event with a victory in the women’s 500-yard freestyle.

‘I felt so bad for her because I know exactly what she was going through,’ Cortez told The Ramapo News.

‘Even going into this season, I had a fear of succeeding, because I don’t want what happened to her to happen to me.’

Cortez-Fields has won at least one heat in three of the four so far this year.

On Saturday, she pipped fellow 100 yard butterfly competitor Jennifer Scott to first place by  2.59 seconds.

A Ramapo spokesperson told Fox News the school ‘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,’ the spokesperson said.

‘The College continues to post team and individual student-athlete achievements for all programs on our Athletics website.’

Ramapo and Cortez-Fields have been contacted for comment. 

Source: Read Full Article