Ron DeSantis Pulls An End-Around on the NCAA, Recognizes Emma Weyant ‘As the Best Women’s Swimmer in the 500y Freestyle’

Florida GOP Gov Ron DeSantis today pulled an end-around on the NCAA and announced that Florida will recognize runner-up UVA swimmer Emma Weyant “As the best women’s swimmer in the 500y freestyle.”

DeSantis issued a proclamation on the subject and shared it in a tweet where he said, “By allowing men to compete in women’s sports, the NCAA is destroying opportunities for women, making a mockery of its championships, and perpetuating a fraud.”

“In Florida, we reject these lies and recognize Sarasota’s Emma Weyant as the best women’s swimmer in the 500y freestyle,” DeSantis declared.

Twitter user Wahoos79 responded, “Well done governor! And we too recognize UVA’s Emma Weyant as the true national champion, not Will Thomas. Wahoowa!”

Well done governor! And we too recognize UVA’s Emma Weyant as the true national champion, not Will Thomas. Wahoowa!

— Wahoos79 (@Wahoos79) March 22, 2022

The decision by DeSantis comes after Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer for the University of Pennsylvania, won the event on Thursday by nearly two seconds.

As we previously reported, Virginia Tech swimmer Reka Gyorgy recently spoke out after she missed out on competing in the finals by one spot.

U.S. House Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH) asked yesterday in a tweet, “Does Joe Biden think it’s fair for Lia Thomas to compete in women’s swimming?”

Last month, the White House dodged the question after Thomas won Ivy League championships in three different events, breaking multiple records in the process.

As Fox News noted at the time, however, the Justice Department and Education Department, in reversals from their Trump-era positions, have declared that barring transgender athletes from competing as the gender they identify as is a violation of Title IX. 

Not only that, but Biden campaigned on passing the Equality Act, which would amend federal anti-discrimination law to make “gender identity” a protected category. 

Schools across the country would be required by the bill to allow biologically male athletes who identify as transgender women to compete in female athletics. 

That bill has not yet been passed, although it is possible that Biden could issue an executive action on the matter.