Ex-Virginia Tech swimmer says she felt 'cheated' after missing out on 500 finals in 2022 NCAA Championships

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Reka Gyorgy, a former Virginia Tech swimmer who is among the 16 current and former collegiate athletes suing the NCAA over its transgender policies, said Thursday she felt "cheated" out of making the 500 freestyle final at the 2022 championships because Lia Thomas had been allowed to compete.

Gyorgy missed the cut-off to get into the consolation final in the 500 free because she finished in 17th.

She said in an interview with The Free Press she felt like she was in the best shape of her life and was determined to make the final since it was going to be the last race of her collegiate career. She finished with a time of 4:41.06. Thomas, the transgender UPenn swimmer who eventually won a national championship in the event, finished the prelims with a 4:33.82 and a 4:33.24 in the final.

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Virginia Tech swimmer Reka Gyorgy swims the 400 IM consolation finals during the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on March 18th, 2022, at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Georgia. (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

"I feel like I was cheated out from the final because I knew that Lia is going to be in front of me for sure," Gyorgy explained to The Free Press. "And watching that last heat of the 500 freestyle, it was just so emotional and looking at the screen after the last heat touched the wall, and saw my name at 17th, I was shocked to be honest.

"I went through all the feelings. I was surrounded by my teammates and my coaches and I started crying. I broke down because I felt right away that I don’t have a second chance to swim again. It just wasn’t fair."

Gyorgy