An ex-teammate of controversial transgender swimmer Lia Thomas has attacked UPenn for “shutting down” any criticism about the athlete joining the women’s team in 2020 – and alleged that the school “effectively silenced” them.

Paula Scanlan, who competed during the 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons, told the Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh that she decided to join college swimmer Riley Gaines in “fighting for women and girls across the country.”

Last year, Scanlan appeared anonymously in Wash’s transgender documentary “What Is A Woman?” He said she approached him a few days ago to publicly share her story about the Division I NCAA champion.

During their conversation, which he posted on Twitter, Scanlan said UPenn’s athletic department held a meeting in 2019 in which Thomas — then called Will – told the swimmers she would join the team the following year.

“I felt shocked and a little uncomfortable, but everyone around me looked excited for someone in the men’s team to be living their true self,” she said.

“I can’t speak for everyone, but I think it was a lot of shock, a lot of uncomfortable smiling. But that’s just my interpretation,” Scanlan said.

“Two days later they had a formal meeting with us, with Lia excluded, and we were told you would regret talking to the media,” she said.

“Another thing they said is, ‘Lia swimming with us is non-negotiable’ and then they provided us with counseling services to help us be OK with it,” she said.

Scanlan added that “the university wanted us to be quiet and they did it in a very effective way. They continued to tell us that our opinions were wrong and if we had an issue about it, we were the problem and it’s frightening and your future job is on the line.”

Scanlan added that “after that point, no one would talk about it anymore. They effectively silenced us even within talking to each other.”

She also claimed the swimmers hid in bathroom stalls to avoid changing in front of Thomas.

“When this was first announced, we were maybe told Lia might be changing in a different locker room or might continue to stay in the men’s locker room,” Scanlan said.

“It was all kind of up in the air. And then I saw the locker room chart and saw that Lia definitely had a locker in the women’s room,” she said.

“So that was confirmed that that was definitely going to be happening — and there was never really any further discussion about that,” Scanlan said.

“It was definitely uncomfortable. There’s a few bathroom stalls in the bathroom, and I did notice some girls changing in the bathroom stalls for practice, which I’ve never really seen before,” she continued.

“For me personally, the biggest thing was just when you’re changing and there’s all these people talking in the background – you hear all these women’s voices, and then all the sudden you hear a man’s voice – I would always kind of jump a little bit,” Scanlan said.

“‘Oh, maybe an employee of the building got into the locker room or is taking out the trash,’” she said she thought. “And then I would jump and realize actually that’s a person on my team speaking. It’s actually just someone who sounds very masculine.”

Asked what her teammates were saying at the time, Scanlan said one athlete told her she thought Thomas’ record “should have an asterisk” and someone else suggested that the star should complete in exhibitions.

Scanlan, who described herself as religious, said she went to her Catholic leader to seek guidance on the situation.

“It was really hard for people who are involved in the Catholic community. We want to love and we want to be there and I want to understand that, you know, someone is in pain. Like Lia Thomas is is in pain,” she said.

“You really want to support that and you want to empathize with that experience, but also, how can you support something that’s so unjust, and so I’ve really struggled with that and it was actually very hard for me and my religion to grow,” Scanlan said.

“I was feeling like I can’t feel hate and I don’t feel hate towards Lia. I want to make that very clear,” she added.

Scanlan later thanked Walsh for letting her share her story.

“Something that has shocked me is the volume of international messages I have received. The world looks to America to do the right and thing and now more than ever it is important as Americans we stand up for the truth. The whole world depends on us to do so,” she said on Twitter.

“As a Taiwanese citizen as well as a US citizen. I’m able to see first hand the impact the decisions we make in America have on the world. Americans we need to step up and do the right thing,” she wrote in another tweet.

Thomas, who began competing as a female during her final season, dominated the field and was the first trans athlete to be named Division I NCAA champion. She described those who don’t fully support her right to swim competitively in events designated for women as “transphobic.”

Gaines gained national prominence for criticizing an NCAA decision allowing Thomas to compete against her in Division I.

In March, the World Athletics announced that transgender women who have experienced male puberty will not be permitted to compete in female world ranking competitions.

The Post has reached out to UPenn for comment.