In the 2016-2017 season, Thomas's 2021-2022 time would have ranked her 12th. Swimming, from beginners to recreational to competitive swimming. Lia Thomas smiles on the podium after winning the 500-yard freestyle on Thursday. Her times in the 200 and the 500 in particular set pool and meet records, qualified her for the NCAA championships, and remain the best womens time in the nation this season. But its its its its hard. Quite to the extent that it has blown up, we werent fully expecting, she said. The debate has also reached the political benches. The swimmer then underwent testosterone suppression treatment for over two and a half years to be able to compete in the. University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas became the first transgender NCAA champion in Division I history after winning the women's Thomas competed on Pennsylvania's men's team for three years before transitioning and moving to the women's team, setting multiple programme records. She won first place in March 2022 despite controversy over her being biologically male. [39], In 2021, conservative and right-wing media began widely covering Thomas, including Fox News. [19], In a race during January 2022 at a meet against UPenn's Ivy League rival Yale, Thomas finished in 6th place in the 100m freestyle race, losing to four cisgender women and Iszac Henig, a transgender man, who transitioned without hormone therapy. Transgender swimmer Leah Thomas, Yale transgender swimmer Isaac Henig transforms from female to male in the 100 freestyle race on January 8. Penn senior Lia Thomas, a trans woman, won the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle races at the Ivy League Women's Swimming and Diving Championships this week. Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas completes historic win Swimming next to her in lane 5, Stanford's Brooke Forde stayed within half a. Lia Thomas Swims to Victory Under. Cloudflare Ray ID: 78b73623984e6c90 Among the people who have spoken out against Thomas competing are former Olympic athlete Caitlyn Jenner. ", Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. Lia Thomas is not the first trans swimmer in the N.C.A.A., but her victories have put her at the center of a debate about trans athletes. Thomas spent three seasons on Penn's men's swimming team before completing her transition in 2020 and joining the women's squad this year. Discovery Company. Lia Catherine Thomas is an American swimmer and was a student at the University of Pennsylvania. She was born a boy and underwent gender reassignment surgery to change her gender. The data suggests that while Thomas was the fastest swimmer in that category this season, she actually would have been the fastest swimmer in only one of the last 10 seasons. Transgender Swimmer Lia Thomas has made headlines so far in the NCAA season by giving several record-breaking performances after completing the first year as a woman. In that interview, she nodded in the direction of the controversy but did not engage. Joe Biden probably thought his executive order last week, Advancing Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Individuals, was a winner twice over. The NCAA allows trans men to compete on the womens team so long as they have not had hormone therapy. Another of Thomas' teammates reportedly told Outkick that other swimmers on the UPenn team are often upset and cry, knowing Thomas will beat them. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. 2. The next year, Thomas took second place at the 2019 Ivy League championships in the mens 500-yard, 1,000-yard and 1,650-yard freestyle, shaving seconds off her earlier times. Thomas, 22, kicked off the three-day event, held at the University of Akron, strong in the preliminaries Friday. But outside these chlorine-splashed walls, her season-long Thomas arrived to Penn in 2017 and quickly made a mark on the men's team as a freestyle distance swimmer in the 500-yard, 1,000-yard and 1,650-yard races. Lia Thomas, a transgender woman, swims for the University of Pennsylvania at an Ivy League swim meet against Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts on January 22, 2022. Another of Thomas' teammates reportedly told Outkick that other swimmers on the UPenn team are often upset and cry, knowing Thomas will beat them. Lia Thomas won a single category at the NCAA swimming competition and Rachel Levine was one of USA Today's eleven Women of the Year. We are sorry that this post was not useful for you! Transgender woman Lia Thomas of the University of Pennsylvania talks to a reporter after winning the 500-yard freestyle at the NCAA Division I Women's Swimming & Diving Championshipon March 17, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. Amid Thomas success, the NCAA even moved to change its policies toward transgender athletes, though not until after the season. Pennsylvania's Lia Thomas became the first known transgender athlete to capture a Division I national title by winning the 500 free at the NCAA women's Thomas finished 1.75 seconds ahead of second-place Emma Weyant, who attends Virginia. "[43], In January 2022, the University of Pennsylvania, multiple organizations affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and the Ivy League issued statements supporting Thomas. [25] Thomas was 9.18 seconds short of Katie Ledecky's NCAA record of 4:24.06. For more information, please see our Since at least the 1930s, the bodies of elite women athletes have been publicly scrutinized, leading athletic bodies like the International Olympic Committee to implement various forms of sex testing to determine if women were eligible to compete. At a meet including Princeton and Cornell on Nov. Thomas and Henig embraced in the moments after the race. In 2017, she began studying at the University of Pennsylvania, from which she graduated in May 2022. The new rule threatened to make Thomas ineligible to compete at NCAA championships in March. [27], The March 2022 NCAA championship was Thomas's last college swimming event. Transgender college swimmer Lia Thomas has spoken out about the anti-trans hostility she has faced as an athlete. [28] By the conclusion of Thomas's swimming career at UPenn in 2022, her rank had moved from 65th on the men's team to 1st on the women's team in the 500-yard freestyle, and 554th on the men's team to 5th on the women's team in the 200-yard freestyle. Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas completes historic win Apparently, there were multiple fans who cheered on Thomas as. Taylormade Sim2 Driver, When Thomas first decided to come out, she reached out to Bailar on Instagram for guidance about how to move forward with her swimming career, Bailar said. On March 3, Iowa became the 11th state to pass a law forbidding trans women from competing in women's sporting events. Lia Thomas, now competing for the Penn women's team after previously swimming for the men's team And Thomas is even rising in the all-time rankings: her 200 free performance makes her the Thomas is not the first collegiate swimmer to come out as transgender and make the switch. Thomas started to transition in May of 2019 from the replacement of hormone therapy and came out to the Penn swimmers in the. Born William Thomas, Lia previously competed for Penn's men's swimming team before coming out as a trans woman in 2019. [33][34][35][36] In response to the decision, Thomas said: "The new FINA release is deeply upsetting. Swimming, from beginners to recreational to competitive swimming. One spectator spoke out as transgender college swimmer Lia Thomas prepared to crush his female competitors during an NCAA finals qualifier event on Thursday. It didnt align, she said. Its very complicated.. Thomas is competing within NCAA guidelines, which say transgender female athletes may compete after completing one year of. As they denounced and misgendered Thomas, counter-protesters . See all. I am Lia. 2023 Cable News Network. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Conservative Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, In a column on the matter for the conservative, Gutting IRS Will Help Wealthy Avoid More Taxes | Opinion, Eliminating Income Tax Means More Money for Americans | Opinion. She would have finished first again in 2021, as Paige Madden won that with a time of 04:34.61. Thomas defeated Virginia freshman Emma Weyant by 1.75. Choose Color style She has been competing since then. Before her transition, Thomas competed for two. Thomas finished first in the race in Atlanta on Thursday, with her time of 4. If Lia (born Will) Thomas were not the self-absorbed narcissist that from all indications (s) Thomas' instantly vaulting from a national ranking of No. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. One spectator directly called out transgender swimmer Lia Thomas before he crushed his female competitors. "[48] 23-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps said that "I believe that we all should feel comfortable with who we are in our own skin, but I think sports should all be played on an even playing field" and "I don't know what that looks like in the future. Davies revealed on Twitter on Wednesday that she had received several threats after sharing her opinion. Her event progression for sprint swimming reflected a dip at the start of 202122 season before returning to near-lifetime bests in the 100 free and a lifetime personal best in the 50 free in 2021. She was also ranked #49 in men's 1650 and #98 in men's 500. In a column on the matter for the conservative Daily Mail newspaper, Davis also incorrectly said that Thomas was 6 ft 4 in tall; she is actually 6 ft 1 in. Pool and open water. Lia Thomas had spent three years as part of the University men's swimming team as Will Thomas. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. National Education Association Political Contributions, She has followed National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Ivy League regulations since she began her transition in 2019 by starting hormone replacement therapy. USA Swimming has released a new policy for female competitors as it addresses the furor over transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, according to Sky News host Peta. Thomas, a biological male living as a woman, ended the race with a season-best of 4:33.24, beating out female Virginia freshman swimmer Emma Weyant (4:34.99) and Erica. In the finals for the 100 freestyle, Thomas placed eighth out of eight competitors in 48.18 seconds, finishing last. Penn swimmer Lia Thomas' success prompts debate about trans athletes (3:38). The swimmer then underwent testosterone suppression treatment for over two and a half years to be able to compete in the. Trans swimmer Lia Thomas sharing glory with trans man flips hateful double standard on its head. And it was not long before female swimmers raised their voice. And the waves she makes are only going to get bigger when she dives into the pool at the NCAA championships on. Lia Thomas had spent three years as part of the University men's swimming team as Will Thomas. [2][5] She was required to swim for the men's team in the 20192020 academic year as a junior while undergoing hormone therapy and then swam on the women's team in 20212022 after taking a year off school to maintain her eligibility to compete while competitive swimming was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before her transition, she competed for three years at Penn as a man, named Will Thomas. Thomas received full support from her coach and several of her teammates on the swim team The swimmer complied with NCAA rules and underwent a year of testosterone suppression treatment. [2][8] After her freshman year at college, during the summer of 2018, she came out as transgender to her family. Thomas is ranked 36th among female college swimmers in the United States for the 20212022 season and 46th among women swimmers nationally. Lia Thomas's swimmer profile, including times, results, and more. The Ivy League and the University of Pennsylvania issued statements in support of Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer whose recent record-breaking wins put her. I immediately reacted and attempted to stretch the legbut my body just wasn't responding. Updated [16], In the 20182019 season she was, when competing in the men's team, ranked 554 in the 200 freestyle, 65 in the 500 freestyle, and 32 in the 1650 freestyle. Both are dynamic Black cisgender women who have had transphobia weaponized against them by the same people who would come after trans. ", "Penn's Transgender Swimmer Lost to Yale's Transgender Swimmer in a Hotly Contested Women's Ivy League 100 meter Race", "Amid trans athlete debate, Penn's Lia Thomas loses to trans Yale swimmer", "Thomas first transgender athlete to win D-I title", "Thomas wins US collegiate swimming title", "Swimmer Lia Thomas becomes NCAA's first transgender D-I champion in any sport", "Why the data shows trans swimming champion Lia Thomas didn't have an unfair advantage", "Iszac Henig, Lia Thomas are All-Americans in women's 100-free", "Transgender swimmer finishes last in final college race", "What Lia Thomas Could Mean for Women's Elite Sports", "Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas speaks out about backlash, future plans to compete", "Penn swimmer Lia Thomas opens up about being the 1st transgender D-I athlete to win an NCAA title", "Transgender women swimmers barred from female competitions by Fina", "FINA vote restricts transgender athletes in women's competitions", "Transgender swimmers barred from women's events", "Lia Thomas barred from competing in women's events after swimming body's transgender vote", "FINA to restrict trans women from elite races", "Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas nominated for NCAA 2022 Woman of the Year Award", "Lia Thomas nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year, sparking praise and backlash", "Penn Parents Express Further Concerns Over Lia Thomas Competing On Women's Team", "Anti-trans panic comes to an Ivy League pool", "Official Cynthia Millen Quits, Protesting Lia Thomas' Swimming Participation", "A transgender college swimmer is shattering records, sparking a debate over fairness", "Lia Thomas succeeding from 'hard work' not because she's transgender, Penn Law groups say", "16 UPenn swimmers ask school not to challenge transgender policy that could block teammate Lia Thomas from competing", "Sixteen Penn swimmers say transgender teammate Lia Thomas should not be allowed to compete", "A trio of college swimmers show support for Lia Thomas", "Why I'm proud to support trans athletes like Lia Thomas", "Michael Phelps Weighs in on Lia Thomas Controversy", "Nancy Hogshead-Makar Explains Problems With Lia Thomas Situation", "Trans swimmer Lia Thomas winning NCAA title should spark legitimate debate, not hate", "Lia Thomas becomes 1st known transgender woman to win NCAA swimming title", "Protestors Against Lia Thomas Stand Outside & Attend Women's NCAA Championship", "17th-Place Finisher in 500 Reka Gyorgy Pens Letter to NCAA on Transgender Rules", "DeSantis rejects transgender swimmer Lia Thomas's NCAA victory", "Boebert, GOP lawmakers introduce resolution honoring second-place swimmer in Lia Thomas race", "Twitter reacts: Caitlyn Jenner plays women's golf but says trans girls should be banned from sports", "Caitlyn Jenner says trans swimmer Lia Thomas is not the 'rightful winner' of NCAA title", "Bucking Republican Trend, Indiana Governor Vetoes Transgender Sports Bill", "Louisiana Becomes Latest State To Ban Transgender Athletes In Schools", "A demand to define 'woman' injects gender politics into Jackson's confirmation hearings", "Trans athletes become campaign flashpoint for GOP", "Trans swimming champion Lia Thomas finishes college career", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lia_Thomas&oldid=1133875132, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia temporarily semi-protected biographies of living people, Pages using embedded infobox templates with the title parameter, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, 2022 NCAA Division I Women's Championship, This page was last edited on 15 January 2023, at 23:15. 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