--- description: Incoming Harvard freshman Schuyler Bailar will compete on the men's team after coming out as transgender title: Meet the NCAA's First Openly Transgender Swimmer image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6bb964c88cdd8b48/6988594535ba6f46fec0e068/transgender-harvard-swimmer-schuyler-bailer.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [College Sports](/tag/college-sports/) ## College Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Meet the First Openly Transgender Swimmer to Compete in the NCAA  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 1, 2015 12:59 PM CUT  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](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 1, 2015 12:59 PM CUT 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/ "undefined"). 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.” \[[_AP_](http://college.usatoday.com/2015/06/30/first-transgender-swimmer-at-harvard/ "undefined")\] ```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":"2026-02-22T08:41:47.780Z","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"}}] ```