"I was just happy to be here and race and. 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. [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. [26] In the preliminaries for the 200 freestyle, Thomas finished second. Please wait, loading. In the women's 500-yards freestyle in 2022, Thomas came first with a time of 04:33.24. The trans athlete at the center of a media firestorm is eyeing the Olympics after she graduates. Lia Thomas. Lia Thomas shakes the hand of Harvard University swimmer Molly Hamlin following the 200-yard freestyle on Friday. david perkins metacognition . Some of these examples have become particularly high-profile. In other words, transgender athletes who have experienced the enduring competitive advantages of a male puberty flooded with testosterone, such as greater muscle mass, lung capacity and height, will no longer have an unfair advantage in womens competitions. Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas completes historic win Apparently, there were multiple fans who cheered on Thomas as. By Alan Blinder. She would have finished first again in 2021, as Paige Madden won that with a time of 04:34.61. In March 2022, she became the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I national championship in any sport after winning the womens 500-yard freestyle event. Its not healthy for me to read it and engage with it at all, and so I dont.. She cheered on and high-fived teammates, chatted with coaches and fellow swimmers and sped past the competition on her way to three individual titles. ATLANTA Lia Thomas, the transgender woman whose record-threatening times on the University of Pennsylvania's swim team made her a star of college athletics . 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. Rankings. Yales Iszac Henig, a transgender man, won the 50-yard freestyle in a pool-record 21.93 seconds on Thursday and came in a close second to Thomas in the 100-yard freestyle. If you are a Dude, you were a dude sperm before you ever encountered an egg. 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. University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas received some hostility from the crowd after she became the first transgender NCAA champion in Division I history by winning the women's 500-yard freestyle. Source: Vimbuzz.com [52] On day 2 of the championships, around 10 protesters from the group "Save Women's Sports" protested during the preliminaries of the women's 500 freestyle. Lia Thomas. Click to reveal But it's it's it's it's hard. In the 1990s, both the International Association of Athletics Federations and the IOC ended mandatory sex testing but continued to conduct medical evaluations on a case-by-case basis. Lia Thomas ended an intense week of scrutiny with a hug. " For more information, please see our Lia Thomas 10 Personal Facts, Biography, Wiki. Breaker The Magical Warrior Banned, Her face has been prominently featured on Fox News and right-wing news sites critical of societys changing views on sex and gender. In the 2016-2017 season, Thomas's 2021-2022 time would have ranked her 12th. Despite her success this year, her raw times are significantly slower than they were before her transition. A 22-year-old" (Getty/ Hunter Martin). appreciated. [5], Brooke Forde, an Olympic silver medalist, said of Thomas that: "I believe that treating people with respect and dignity is more important than any trophy or record will ever be, which is why I will not have a problem racing against Lia at NCAAs this year". Thomas's best time in the 2021/2022 season was 04:33.24. However, we also recognize that when it comes to sports competition, that the biology of sex is a separate issue from someones gender identity.. [5] Thomas first launched into the public eye with a stunning performance at the Zippy Invitational in Ohio in December. MISSION VIEJO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 10: A view of a USA Swimming flag on Day Three of the TYR Pro Swim Series at Mission Viejo at Marguerite Aquatics Center on April 10, 2021 in Mission Viejo, California. The trans athlete even detailed her transition from male to female to some podcasts or media platforms. Reporter: You're a Virginia Tech swimmer. He pointed out that trans people are actually underrepresented in sports. Discovery Company. Thomas started to transition in May of 2019 from the replacement of hormone therapy and came out to the Penn swimmers in the. Yet in January, a month after Thomas record-setting pace at the Invitational, the NCAA said it would take a sport-by-sport approach to its rules on transgender athletes participation and defer to each sports national governing body. Austin, TX. At the age of 5, the passion to swim popped up and so started training. In addition, over 300 current and former swimmers, collegiate and elite, signed their names to an open letter defending her ability to compete. Lia Thomas has become the first transgender swimmer to win an NCAA championship after she blitzed her rivals to win the 500-yard freestyle on Thursday, but the victory has again initiated a debate as to the Thomas' right to compete against biologically-born women. Hello, I am Gurmeet singh , Blogger from Jammu, India. Thomas began swimming on the men's team at the University of Pennsylvania in 2017, and during her freshman year, recorded a time of 8 minutes and 57.55 seconds in the 1,000-yard freestyle that ranked as the sixth-fastest national men's time, as well as 500-yard freestyle and 1,650-yard freestyle times ranked within the national top 100. [45][46][note 1] Another group of swimmers from Thomas's swim team made a separate statement supporting her competing on the women's team. Inside Harvard Universitys Blodgett Pool, not far from a large banner reading 8 Against Hate, referring to the Ivys eight schools, her victories in the 500-yard freestyle on Thursday, the 200-yard freestyle on Friday and the 100-yard freestyle on Saturday showed a star athlete going about her business. Ranking: Thomas is ranked 36th among female college swimmers in the United States for the 2021-2022 season and 46th among women swimmers nationally. One man exclaimed "cheater" seconds before a 500Y race began, in a dig at the University of Pennsylvania swimmer. 2. USA Swimming then released a set of stricter guidelines that require elite trans woman athletes to have three years of hormone replacement therapy and to prove to a panel of medical experts that they do not have a competitive advantage over cisgender women. Lia has every right to live her life authentically, the letter says. Transgender women may have a disadvantage in some sports, given their heavier musculature, said. One spectator spoke out as transgender college swimmer Lia Thomas prepared to crush his female competitors during an NCAA finals qualifier event on Thursday. Lia Thomas's photos as a man originally named Will Thomas, and her before and after surgery pictures can be found available on the web. Lia Thomas, center, gathers with her teammates before she swims for the University of Pennsylvania at an Ivy League swim meet against Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on January 22, 2022. CollegeSwimming National Swimmer-of-the-Week. According to Sports Illustrated, she has applied for law school and plans to swim at the 2024 Summer Olympics trials. In that interview, she nodded in the direction of the controversy but did not engage. With this letter, we express our support for Lia Thomas, and all transgender college athletes, who deserve to be able to participate in safe and welcoming athletic environments, the letter said. She would have finished first again in 2021, as Paige Madden won that with a time of 04:34.61. ", "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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