"This madness must stop" - Caitlyn Jenner disappointed by trans swimmer breaking women's college record in New Jersey

By Janhavi Shinde

Modified Mar 13, 2024 11:31 GMT

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Caitlyn Jenner expressed her discontent towards a transgender swimmer for breaking records after competing in the women's category.

Meghan Cortez-Fields, a trans swimmer, secured the top place by breaking a record in the women's category of 100-yard butterfly event at Ramapo College. Cortez-Fields clocked a time of 57.22 seconds.

Moreover, the trans swimmer secured second place in the 200-yard butterfly. Cortez-Fields, who takes inspiration from Lia Thomas, another trans swimmer, competed for the college's men's swimming team for three years before transitioning to the women's team this year as a senior.

Retired American athlete Caitlyn Jenner expressed her resentment at the incident stating it was disappointing and unfair towards cisgender females.

"So disappointing another biological male stealing podium slots, medals, and financial opportunities for women in sports. This madness must stop", Jenner wrote.

The incident took place during the Cougar Splash Invitational Championships — a two-day competition between six schools, organized by Misericordia University in Dallas, Pennsylvania.

The college had also posted a congratulatory post for the trans swimmer stating Cortez-Fields joined the women's team this season. The post was later deleted after the former NCAA swimmer, Riley Gaines brought the incident to light. Later, Gaines also called out Ramapo College for deleting the post saying the college couldn't handle the public criticism.

College spokesperson Brittany A. Williams-Goldstein later reached out to Sportskeeda to clarify the deletion, remarking that it was done out of "empathy and compassion" by a peer.

"The College recognizes that the deletion of a social media post can cause speculation. The peer’s decision-making in removing the original post that commended Meghan, however, was centered around empathy and compassion for a fellow member of the College community, and has the College’s full support."

Williams-Goldstein added in a statement:

"The College has been checking in on Meghan and her teammates to ensure that they have the resources and supports they need to manage the attention and cope with the public vitriol. We would be remiss to not reiterate that there is a person, a team, a community, and broad public policy coursing through the heart of this story."

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"Having an understanding of trans topics especially as related to sport, this is so wrong"- Caitlyn Jenner on a trans athlete winning a race in California

Caitlyn Jenner during the Pro-Am as a preview for the 2016 ANA Inspiration Championship at the Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California.

Caitlyn Jenner has had an exceptional athletic journey. As a male athlete, Jenner secured Olympic and Pan American Games gold medals before transitioning in 2015.

She expressed her discontent towards a trans athlete competing and securing victory in the 2.97-mile varsity race in the women's category at the Coastal Mountain Conference Championships, held on November 8, 2023, at Spring Lake Park in Santa Rosa, California.

She stated that being a former athlete and a person with experience in transgender topics, the incident felt unjust for the other female athletes.

"As someone that ran track at the most elite levels, while also having an understanding of trans topics especially as related to sport, this is so wrong. This cheated young women out of well deserved that directly impact their ability for scholarships," Jenner tweeted.