--- title: First Openly Transgender Swimmer to Compete in NCAA description: Incoming Harvard freshman Schuyler Bailar will compete on the men's team after coming out as transgender canonical: https://time.com/3942924/ncaa-first-transgender-swimmer/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-01T12:59:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:43.365Z article:section: Sports og:title: Meet the NCAA's First Openly Transgender Swimmer og:description: Incoming Harvard freshman Schuyler Bailar will compete on the men's team og:url: https://time.com/3942924/ncaa-first-transgender-swimmer/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6bb964c88cdd8b48/6988594535ba6f46fec0e068/transgender-harvard-swimmer-schuyler-bailer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: transgender harvard swimmer Schuyler Bailer og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Meet the NCAA's First Openly Transgender Swimmer twitter:description: Incoming Harvard freshman Schuyler Bailar will compete on the men's team twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6bb964c88cdd8b48/6988594535ba6f46fec0e068/transgender-harvard-swimmer-schuyler-bailer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Meet the First Openly Transgender Swimmer to Compete in the NCAA > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: Behind the Scenes of Laverne Cox's TIME Cover Shoot [Watch (HLS stream): Behind the Scenes of Laverne Cox's TIME Cover Shoot](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/16Vyqo82.m3u8) (1:40)  _Published 2014-05-30. Actress and LGBT activist Laverne Cox talks to TIME about acceptance of transgender people and awareness of discrimination and civil rights issues_  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Jul 1, 2015 12:59 PM UTC  Schuyler Bailer is the first openly transgender collegiate athlete. Schuyler Bailer is the first openly transgender collegiate athlete. Marvin Joseph—The Washington Post/Getty Images  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Jul 1, 2015 12:59 PM UTC An incoming Harvard University freshman will become what is believed to be the first openly transgender student [to compete as a swimmer in the NCAA](http://college.usatoday.com/2015/06/30/first-transgender-swimmer-at-harvard/). Schuyler Bailar was initially recruited for the women’s team but was torn about his participation after coming out as a transgender man this year—until Bailar’s coach coordinated an offer from the university to join either the men’s team or the women’s team. “It’s half terrifying and half exciting,” Bailar told the Associated Press. “I’m just kind of embracing it with open arms.” Harvard men’s swimming coach Kevin Tyrrell said the rest of the team was immediately in favor of extending an invite to Bailar. “Through high school I grew my hair out, I conformed, I dressed in the high heels to prom — and I was miserable,” Bailar said. “I did succeed in swimming because that was really my only outlet.” \[[_AP_](http://college.usatoday.com/2015/06/30/first-transgender-swimmer-at-harvard/)\] ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] A lot of it is just about listening to transgender people and taking the lead from trans folks. The reality is that I don't represent. Resent the entirety of the trans community, there's multiple experiences and multiple relationships to one's identity. And so it's really about listening to individuals in terms of how they define themselves and describe themselves, and taking them at their word. Be willing to let go of what, preconceptions we might have about people who are different from for us and taking people on their own terms. [ MUSIC ]. When we look at the discrimination that transgender people face, there, there tends to be inner sections of race and class. The homicide rate for example in the LGBQT communities is highest amount trans women, and then we look at transwomen who are being victims of violence, most is trans women of color. So there's something about race intersecting with the gender issues that we have to look at if we're really interested in ending violence against trans women, for example. And trans people in general. If you wanna improve the unemployment rate in the trans community, if you wanna stop the bullying of LGBTQU. We also have to look at race, and, and I think. The trans movement and LGBT movement in general really has to be a social justice movement where we look at issues of race and class and, and, and just, you know, phobia in general. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3942924/ncaa-first-transgender-swimmer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3942924/ncaa-first-transgender-swimmer/"},"headline":"Meet the First Openly Transgender Swimmer to Compete in the NCAA","datePublished":"2015-07-01T12:59:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:58:43.365Z","description":"Incoming Harvard freshman Schuyler Bailar will compete on the men's team after coming out as transgender","url":"https://time.com/3942924/ncaa-first-transgender-swimmer/","keywords":["College Sports","LGBT","Harvard"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6bb964c88cdd8b48/6988594535ba6f46fec0e068/transgender-harvard-swimmer-schuyler-bailer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6bb964c88cdd8b48/6988594535ba6f46fec0e068/transgender-harvard-swimmer-schuyler-bailer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"transgender harvard swimmer Schuyler Bailer","caption":"transgender harvard swimmer Schuyler Bailer","creditText":"Marvin Joseph—The Washington Post/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/college-sports/","name":"College Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3942924/ncaa-first-transgender-swimmer/","name":"Meet the First Openly Transgender Swimmer to Compete in the NCAA"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Behind the Scenes of Laverne Cox's TIME Cover Shoot","description":"Actress and LGBT activist Laverne Cox talks to TIME about acceptance of transgender people and awareness of discrimination and civil rights issues","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/16Vyqo82/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-05-30T20:44:41.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/16Vyqo82.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3942924/ncaa-first-transgender-swimmer/","duration":"PT1M40S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3942924/ncaa-first-transgender-swimmer/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```