On Tuesday, Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed a proclamation declaring that Sarasota native and Olympic silver medalist Emma Weyant was “the best women’s swimmer in the 500y freestyle” in last week’s NCAA championship. Weyant was awarded second-place in the women’s event after falling behind transgender woman Lia Thomas – a biological male – during the final stretch.
“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,” DeSantis said in a tweet. “In Florida, we reject these lies and recognize Sarasota’s Emma Weyant as the best women’s swimmer in the 500y freestyle.”
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. pic.twitter.com/tBmFxFE3q6
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) March 22, 2022
The proclamation stated, in part, “Emma Weyant of Sarasota is an accomplished woman who excelled in academics and athletics as a student-athlete at Riverview High School where she was a member of the National Honor Society, a Scholastic All-American, and an award winning swimmer…”
“Emma Weyant qualified for the 2020 U.S. Olympics team and competed in the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics where she won a silver medal in the women’s 400-meter individual medley,” the proclamation said. “Emma Weyant currently attends the University of Virginia where she is a member of the school’s women’s swim team and made it to the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division 1 Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships.”
“[On] Thursday, March 17, 2022, Emma Weyant competed in the 500-yard freestyle race at the Division 1 Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, logging the fastest time among all women swimmers,” it continued. “[And] a male identifying as a woman was allowed to compete in and was declared the winner of the race by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Emma was determined to have come in second place… it is my determination that men should not be competing against women such as Emma Weyant, robbing women and girls of achievements, awards, and scholarships.”
“Florida rejects the NCAA’s efforts to destroy women’s athletics, disapproves of the NCAA elevating ideology over biology, and takes offense at the NCAA trying to make others complicit in a lie,” the proclamation said. “NOW THEREFORE, since she is a native Floridian from Sarasota, I, Ron Desantis, Governor of the State of Florida, do hereby declare in Florida that Emma Weyant is the rightful winner of the 2022 NCAA Division 1 Women’s 500-yard Freestyle, congratulate her on yet another significant achievement, and express pride that she is a Florida resident.”
