Just two years ago,
our next guest was one of the top high school female swimmers in the country.
But before entering college, Schuyler Bailar came out as transgender.
And he now competes on the Harvard men's swim team,
as the first transgender male in any Division 1 sport.
From McLean, Virginia, please welcome Schuyler.
>> [APPLAUSE] >> Well, first of all,
I wanna say, I'm proud of you, good for you.
And I know that this is feels really good, to actually be able to be yourself.
So tell me at what age you realized that you were transgender.
>> I think it's something that I've always known,
but I didn't always have the vocabulary to explain it.
>> Mm-hm. >> And it took me a while to find it,
because I think the word transgender has a lot of negative connotations in the media.
>> Mm-hm.
>> And it wasn't until I took a gap year, to actually get better from
having an eating disorder, that I was able to figure it out.
And that kind of revelation came when I sat down, and I was like,
I don't think that I hate my body because of how it looks.
I hate it, or not hate it, but
I didn't like it because it didn't represent the gender that I feel.
>> Right, did we show any pictures of you?
Because the pictures were amazing, when you see.
I don't think anybody would've looked at you and
thought that you were in any way suffering.
And especially in the eating disorder.
Anybody who has an eating disorder, obviously, there is a deeper issue for
it, whatever that is.
And I'm glad you found out.
Okay, so you're this amazing swimmer, and you're recruited by Harvard.
They say, you're on the swim team.
>> Right.
>> But they saw you as a girl.
>> Right, as a woman.
>> And so at what point did you share with them now that you were a man?
>> So I told my coach, I think it was April of my senior year.
So I recruited in September, and I told her in April that I was gonna take
a gap year because I need to get better from my eating disorder.
And she said, okay, just keep me posted.
And so throughout that process, I called her, think it was about once a month.
And I told her what was going on, and I told her what I was working on.
And when gender identity came up, I said, hey, I'm working on my gender identity.
And I don't know what's gonna be the implications of this, but
I am transgender.
And I just know that I really wanna swim.
>> And she was fine with that?
>> Yeah, she just rolled with it.
And she was like, look, Schuyler, I want you to be happy.
And if you wanna swim, you wanna swim.
We want you to be on this team, we love you.
And she said, we're gonna make it work.
>> So you wanted to swim on the girl's team, were you gonna do that?
>> Yeah, initially,
I was gonna lead this kind of crazy double life of being a woman in the pool, but
then being a man in school, and- >> It rhymes.
>> [LAUGH] >> It does rhyme, [LAUGH] yeah.
Yeah, and I think my coach saw through that kind of.
And said, you're not gonna be healthy if you do that,
cuz I was still warring with myself.
It would still be a kind of crazy thing to do, you know?
>> Right. >> Yeah.
>> And so the male coach said he was fine.
He said, join our team.
>> Yeah. >> And
then he talked to all the guys on the team.
And were you surprised that all the guys were completely welcoming and
fine, and no one had an issue with it?
>> Yeah, it was crazy.
Kevin, the men's coach, actually talked to the whole team beforehand,
before he talked to me.
And he said, team, do we wanna do this?
We have this trans kid, do we want to let him on the team?
And they were like, yeah, and that's been consistent since.
>> Right, and I know that he went to them and he said, maybe in a group,
nobody wanted to speak out.
But he said, individually, come talk to me if you wanna talk to me.
>> Mm-hm. >> So then you had top surgery,
you had your breasts removed, right?
>> Right.
>> So that must've been amazing to- >> [LAUGH]
>> [LAUGH] To then swim.
What was that like, the first time you're standing there in a Speedo, and
you don't have a suit on?
>> It was terrifying, to be honest with you, yeah.
I was actually at Harvard the first time it happened.
And I was sitting on the deck and I was all covered up.
And I told my coach, I'm really scared.
And he said, don't worry about it, so I literally took off my shirt and
jumped in the pool.
[LAUGH] >> Yeah.
[LAUGH] >> But it was really great.
I think there was a lot of new sensations, physical sensations that I felt.
Because I'd never had those parts of my bodies exposed underwater.
>> Right.
>> But it was incredible.
>> Right, so you were, I think, if I'm not wrong,
if not the fastest, one of the fastest women swimmers.
Now you're swimming on the men's team.
>> Yeah. >> And
you knew that that was gonna be an adjustment.
>> Yeah, yeah.
>> And how is that?
How are you doing in it?
>> So I'm not winning anything, but I think that I'm not awful.
So I keep up with my teammates and I keep up with people around me.
But I'm not winning anything like I used to, and that's definitely humbling.
But it kind of has helped me develop something I was working on before,
which was learning to love swimming just for swimming.
And I think that there's a lot of other kinds of glory in that.
And for example,
in my last meet, which is, I think, the thing that was just up on the screen.
I got 16th place, which obviously is not first place.
[LAUGH] But my whole team- >> No, it's not, I don't know much about
it, but I know 16th is not- >> [LAUGH]
>> First.
>> Yeah, but the whole team was on the side of the deck, and they jumped up and
were screaming for me.
Because I dropped a lot of time from my best, so I did really well,
relative to myself.
And it was just, I mean, I was ecstatic.
And it was as much glory as I ever would've gotten in first place.
Probably more, because I was myself.
>> Yeah, that's amazing.
>> [APPLAUSE] >> So
first of all, like I said, I admire you.
And it's a scary thing to do something that so many people don't understand.
And I know your parents are in the audience and
are very supportive, and- >> And my brother.
>> Yep, and your brother.
>> [LAUGH] >> [APPLAUSE]
>> So mom and dad and brother, obviously,
you're very proud of him.
>> Absolutely.
>> Very.
>> Yep, the best.
>> Yep, I mean, the fact that because you knew.
I mean, you're looking at the women's team, and
you're watching them compete in their times.
And you're thinking, I would beat that time.
I could do that, but you're- >> I would be competitive with them, yeah.
>> Yeah, you'd be competitive in that time.
And you choose to do this because, as you said, you're being yourself.
So you are winning, and
I can't give you a gift because you're an athlete, and I'm not allowed to do that.
>> [LAUGH] >> All I'm gonna do is continue
to tell you how proud I am of you and how amazing that is.
And to encourage any schools out there, any teachers, anybody.
I know people don't understand this.
How can you understand it?
But support it, and be as open and kind as his family is to him and the school.
>> [APPLAUSE] >> We'll be right back.