A transgender swimmer at Ramapo College of New Jersey broke a women’s school record over the weekend after competing for the men’s team for three years.
Meghan Cortez-Fields won first place and broke a school record in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 57.22 at the Cougar Splash Invitational, a two-day meet between six schools in Dallas, Pennsylvania. She also came in first place in the 200-yard individual medley and earned second place in the 200-yard butterfly.
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The Ramapo swim team congratulated Cortez-Fields on Instagram for breaking the school record but deleted the post after former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines drew attention to meet results on X.
“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. There is no in between anymore,” Gaines, an ambassador for the Independent Women’s Forum, told Fox News. “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,” added Gaines, who previously faced a trans competitor herself.
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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 continued. “The College continues to post team and individual student-athlete achievements for all programs on our Athletics website.”
Cortez-Fields swam on Ramapo’s men’s team for three years before moving to the women’s team this season as a senior. Last year, she told The Ramapo News she admired Lia Thomas, the trans University of Pennsylvania swimmer who won an NCAA Championship in 2022.
Some hailed Thomas for her bravery, while others, like Gaines, accused her of robbing biological females of opportunities to compete and win.
Thomas “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,” Cortez said. “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 women’s meets so far this year.
Ramapo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
