"Wrong and completely unfair" -Martina Navratilova expresses outrage at transgender swimmer who smashed women’s record after switching from men’s team

Martina Navratilova recently criticized transgender swimmer Meghan Cortez-Fields, who broke the women’s record after competing on the men’s team for three years.

Cortez-Fields, a senior at Ramapo College in New Jersey, made headlines by smashing the school’s record for the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 57.22. She also won the 200-yard individual medley and came second in the 200-yard butterfly.

Cortez-Fields had competed on Ramapo’s men’s team for three seasons before switching to the women’s roster this year. She is one of the first openly transgender athletes at Ramapo and looks up to Lia Thomas, another transgender swimmer who dominated the women’s NCAA Division I this season.

The issue of transgender athletes competing in women’s sports has been a hot topic of debate in recent years, with some arguing that it gives them an unfair advantage over cisgender women due to their biological differences.

Navratilova, who came out as a lesbian in 1981 and has been a vocal supporter of LGBTQ+ causes, took to X (formerly Twitter) to express her dismay at Cortez-Fields’ achievement, calling it "wrong and completely unfair".

"I will keep saying this over and over- this is wrong and completely unfair and quite frankly a mockery," Navratilova wrote.

Martina Navratilova on X (formerly Twitter)

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Martina Navratilova voices disapproval of Massachusetts law allowing male inclusion in female competitions

Martina Navratilova at the 2023 WTA Finals

Martina Navratilova recently slammed a Massachusetts law that allows boys to play on girls’ field hockey teams. She reacted to a case where a male player from Swampscott High School injured a female defender from Dighton-Rehoboth High School by hitting her in the face, with a ball, during a playoff game.

The boy was able to join the girls’ team because there was no boys’ team for field hockey in his school, and the sport is considered a female one in Massachusetts. This is based on the 1976 Massachusetts Equal Rights Amendment, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational sports.

However, this rule has been met with a lot of criticism, as many people think that it is unfair and unsafe for male players to compete with female players. The 18-time Grand Slam champion denounced the law in a now-deleted tweet.

"Teenage female hockey player loses teeth after being hit by shot from male opponent- "The arguments generally fail due to the lack of correlation between injuries and mixed-gender teams."- are you kidding me???" Navratilova wrote on X (formerly Twitter).