Former Lia Thomas teammate calls out Democrats still fighting for trans athletes in women's sports

Former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Margot Kaczorowski discusses President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender athletes in women’s sports and a lawsuit against the school on ‘America’s Newsroom.’

EXCLUSIVE: Former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Grace Estabrook was one of the many young women who shared a pool and locker room with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in the 2021-22 season. 

From 2019, when she was first told Thomas would be joining her team, until her senior year in 2022, Estabrook alleged she was repeatedly pressured by the university not to oppose Thomas' inclusion on the team. Estabrook told Fox News Digital that administrators tried to convince her that she would never get a job or get into grad school if she spoke out against it and that any issue she had with the situation was because she had a "psychological problem." 

And in between the practices and meets that made her feel "uncomfortable" and "powerless," Estabrook says she also witnessed the mainstream media celebrate Thomas as a civil rights icon and even be nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year award. 

But now, in 2025, Estabrook is one of three former UPenn swimmers who have filed a lawsuit against the university, the Ivy League and the NCAA over its handling of the situation as the tides on the issue turn in the court of public opinion.

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Penn's Lia Thomas waits to swim in a qualifying heat of the 200-yard freestyle at the Ivy League Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at Harvard University, Feb. 18, 2022, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm)

Fox News Digital reached out to UPenn for comment.

Recent data suggests the vast majority of Americans now oppose trans athletes