Was transgender competitive swimmer Lia Thomas fired from her new high school coaching job after two weeks because "half the team quit"? No, that's not true: This claim appeared in an article on a satirical website known for publishing fabricated content. The website where this claim originated has a disclaimer that reads, "Everything on this website is fiction."
The claim appeared in an article published by The Dunning-Kruger Times on January 1, 2024, and entitled "Lia Thomas Fired From Her New High School Coaching Job After Two Weeks: 'Half the Team Quit'" (archived here). It began:
Lia Thomas quit the world of competitive swimming and opted instead to become a coach. With a slew of world records and a national championship under her belt, who better to teach the next generation? Thomas secured a job at Batt High School in Vanden Boom, Michigan.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
Lia Thomas Fired From Her New High School Coaching Job After Two Weeks: "Half the Team Quit"
There weren't enough team members left to enter any competitions.
A Google search (archived here) for a "Batt High School in Vanden Boom, Michigan," produced no results to substantiate this claim.
The article continued:
ALLOD Sportsball Correspondelator Tara Newhole looked into the story and found that it had 'little to no basis in fact.'
There is no evidence that an "ALLOD Sportsball Analyzer" named "Tara Newhole" exists; the name is a phonetic pun for the colloquial phrase for an abusive critique, and "Sportsball" is a derogatory term used by people who are not sports enthusiasts to describe games revered by sports fans.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks of claims related to Lia Thomas can be found here.
The Dunning-Kruger Times
The Dunning-Kruger Times is a satirical website with an About Us page (archived here) that has the following disclaimer:
About Us
Dunning-Kruger-Times.com is a subsidiary of the 'America's Last Line of Defense' network of parody, satire, and tomfoolery, or as Snopes called it before they lost their war on satire: Junk News
About Satire
Before you complain and decide satire is synonymous with 'comedy':
sat·ire ˈsaˌtī(ə)r noun: The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, OR ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.
Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real. If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined. Any similarities between this site's pure fantasy and actual people, places, and events are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and satirical. See above if you're still having an issue with that satire thing.
The website is named after the Dunning-Kruger effect, a term from a psychology experiment that describes the phenomenon of being ignorant of one's own ignorance. (That experiment has been disputed by a math professor.)
It is run by self-described liberal troll Christopher Blair.
Blair's articles typically contain noticeable hints they are not real, such as the name "Art Tubolls" (anagram for "Busta Troll"), included in this article. Blair also frequently pays homage to a friend who has passed away, Joe Barron, by creating fake job titles for him.
