Reka Giorgi, a 2016 Olympian and former NCAA swimmer, recounted a frightening experience she had during an interaction with transgender swimmer Leah Thomas.
Thomas, formerly known as Luke, is an NCAA men's swimmer. 554th place He reportedly wrestled against men before becoming a woman and then winning an NCAA championship.
Thomas' actions sparked controversy around the world and ultimately led to rule changes banning men from swimming against women at elite level competition, including the Olympics.
Jorge later released a video recounting her experience running into Thomas in the women's locker room at the NCAA Championships.
In a video provided to The Blaze News by women's advocacy group ICONS, Jorge recalled seeing Thomas in the dressing room.
“I opened the locker room door and was about to turn around when I ran into Thomas,” she explained.
The 5-foot-9 swimmer said she was surprised by Thomas's size and that his genitals had come into contact with her.
“I was surprised by how big he was – about 6'4″ tall. When he bumped into me as we were leaving the locker room, I was surprised to feel his penis on my hand, which was between us.”
“I was frozen, I couldn't even apologise,” Jorge said. “He just smiled at me and said 'I'm sorry' in a male voice.”
The former All-American complained that female swimmers didn't even have their own locker rooms at the championships, and said she found herself looking back “numerous times” while getting changed.
“I was terrified that while I was changing into my swimsuit he could come in at any moment and expose the private parts of my body to this man.”
Video courtesy of the Independent Council for Women in Sport (ICONS)
Jorge told The Blaze News that outside of that incident, he never spoke to Thomas again.
The Hungarian joins other former NCAA swimmers like Riley Gaines who have spoken out about their interactions with Thomas.
“Of the top eight women in the country, there's a 6'11 man wearing a women's swimsuit next to a woman wearing just a Speedo with nothing covering her upper body,” Gaines told Joe Rogan in May 2024.
Gaines added that when she actually tied with Thomas, there was only one trophy, which went to the male player. Gaines recalled asking the umpire why Thomas got the trophy.
“His expression changed, he looked sad, his voice changed. It was clear he didn't believe what he was about to say, but this executive looked at me and said, 'Riley, I'm really sorry, but we've been advised as an organization that it's important that the trophy is in Leah's hands during photo ops.'”
Jorge currently serves as the Director of Operations for the swimming and diving team. Virginia Tech.
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