Hungarian Olympian Réka György, who lost a place in an NCAA swimming final after competing against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, criticized Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s administration for abandoning a proposed regulation intended to protect female sports and private spaces.
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who → lose → sports
György was one of three female swimmers who petitioned the Virginia Board of Health to enact the regulation last year.
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who → petition → regulation
The board unanimously approved the petition under former Gov. Glenn Youngkin, but the regulatory action was withdrawn in July after Spanberger took office.
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Spanberger → approve → office
"It’s really sad for me because I had the petition filed a year ago, and Youngkin approved it and wanted to take the next step and protect female athletes and female spaces in Virginia," György told OutKick.
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György → ’ → OutKick
"I don’t like to see that people are using their power, especially political power, to make decisions and hurt other people.
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people → like → people
And also, it’s coming from a female."
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it → come → female
György added that she was "really disappointed" by the decision.
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she → add → decision
György filed the petition in April 2025 alongside former Roanoke College swimmers Lily Mullens and Carter Satterfield.
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György → file → swimmers
It asked the Board of Health to adopt regulations preventing biological males from participating on female-only athletic teams or entering female-designated spaces where women and girls could be undressing.
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women → ask → spaces
After receiving more than 2,300 public comments, the board voted 14–0 in August 2025 to begin the regulatory process.
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board → receive → process
The Youngkin administration subsequently approved a Notice of Intended Regulatory Action, which was published that November.
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which → approve → Action
However, the Spanberger administration withdrew the action on July 30, after an additional public-comment period had concluded.
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period → withdraw → July
The withdrawal was not accompanied by an announcement from the governor’s office and was later published in the Virginia Register of Regulations.
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withdrawal → accompany → Regulations
The official notice said the State Board of Health would not proceed "upon review of statutory authority."
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Board → say → authority
György questioned why the administration did not call greater public attention to the decision.
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administration → question → decision
"I have a feeling that she’s afraid of the backlash of people, what they’re going to say or think," György said.
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György → have → what
"Other than that, I don’t know what her motivation is."
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motivation → know → that
György’s advocacy stems from her experience at the 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships.
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advocacy → stem → Championships
The Virginia Tech swimmer finished 17th in the preliminary round of the 500-yard freestyle, one place short of advancing to the consolation final.
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swimmer → finish → final
Thomas, a biological male who identifies as a transgender woman, qualified for the championship final and went on to win the national title.
"Because the rule-makers let him compete in the women’s category, I got bumped out from the final," György said.
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György → identify → final
"I got 17th, and I wasn’t allowed to swim in the finals.
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I → get → finals
It ended up being me who got knocked out of the finals at night."
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who → end → night
György represented Hungary at the 2016 Rio Olympics and was a two-time ACC champion and two-time NCAA All-American during her career at Virginia Tech.
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György → represent → Tech
She said she had devoted approximately 18 years to swimming before her final collegiate championship appearance.
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she → say → appearance
"I put everything into swimming that I had," she said.
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she → put → that
"The 2022 NCAA Championships was my senior year in college, so I was ready to retire from swimming, but before I did that, give my best.
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I → retire → best
I had everything that I was capable of putting into practices to prepare myself to give my best at that competition.
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I → have → competition
"And the chance to actually swim in the final was taken away."
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chance → swim → final
György also recalled sharing a women’s locker room with Thomas during the championship meet.
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György → recall → meet
"You were in just constant fear," she said.
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she → say → fear
"You had no idea when he was going to enter the locker room."
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he → have → room
György explained that putting on a high-level racing suit can take between 15 and 25 minutes, preventing swimmers from simply changing quickly and leaving.
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putting → explain → swimmers
"I was always looking behind my shoulder because I had no idea when my privacy was going to be robbed away," she said.
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she → look → idea
"You try to cover yourself, which usually you don’t do because you are surrounded by other females and you don’t have that issue.
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you → try → issue
The experience ultimately prompted György to become an outspoken advocate for sex-separated athletic competition and private spaces.
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experience → prompt → competition
"I just had this feeling that I had to speak up because, obviously, the people who were in charge of that competition didn’t do anything to protect us females," she said.
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she → have → us
"One day, maybe I will have a daughter, and I don’t want my daughter to be in a situation where I had to share the locker room and compete against a male.
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I → have → male
György, who continues to live in Virginia, joined the petition effort after being contacted about the controversy involving Mullens, Satterfield and the Roanoke College women’s swimming team.
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who → continue → Mullens
In 2023, members of the team objected when a transgender student sought to join the women’s roster.
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student → object → roster
Roanoke College later said the student had chosen not to compete.
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student → say → ?
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
