At the end of the race, Thomas is the only one even in the picture. He pointed out that trans people are actually underrepresented in sports. There, she dominated the womens field in the 200-yard freestyle, 500-yard freestyle, and 1,650-yard freestyle races, beating the second place finisher by about 7 seconds, 15 seconds and 38 seconds, respectively. [32], In June 2022, the International Swimming Federation (FINA), an organization that administers international aquatic sports competitions, voted to bar all transgender athletes from competing in professional women's swimming, with the exception of athletes who "can establish to FINA's comfortable satisfaction that they have not experienced any part of male puberty beyond Tanner Stage 2 (of puberty) or before age 12, whichever is later", barring Thomas from competing in the women's competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics as she had planned. Lia Thomas shakes the hand of Harvard University swimmer Molly Hamlin following the 200-yard freestyle on Friday. [5][4][9] During the 20182019 season, Thomas recorded the top university men's team times in the 500 free, 1000 free, and 1650 free. 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. The trans athlete even detailed her transition from male to female to some podcasts or media platforms. [13] In March, Colorado representative Lauren Boebert introduced a bill co-sponsored by 20 other Republicans that honors Weyant. Its about transphobia.. The Department of Justice this past June said that laws in Arkansas and West Virginia that prevent athletes who were born as men from competing in women's sports were unconstitutional. Lia Thomas competes at the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships on March 18, 2022. Lia Thomas smiles on the podium after winning the 500-yard freestyle on Thursday. Austin, TX. The University of Pennsylvania's. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. Seconds after edging Yale's Iszac Henig to win the 100-meter freestyle title at the Ivy League After taking a moment to towel off, the transgender swimmer for Penn turned to her right and embraced Henig, a transgender man who swims for Yale's. Before her transition, Thomas competed for two. She has recently been smashing women's records at school. Watch male swimmer who "identifies as" female, Lia Thomas, absolutely destroy his female competitors in this race at the NCAA championships. 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. [62] The National Women's Law Center, a non-profit organization, defended Thomas, saying that she "deserves all the celebration for her success this season, but instead is being met with nationwide misogyny and transphobia". National Education Association Political Contributions, [20][21], In March 2022, Thomas became the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I national championship in any sport, after winning the women's 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:33.24; Olympic silver medalist Emma Weyant was second with a time 1.75 seconds behind Thomas. 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. The fastest time that year was from Katie Ladecky from Stanford University, who finished at 04:24.06, nearly 10 seconds faster than Thomas in the most recent season. Im feeling confident and good in my swimming and in my personal relationships, and transitioning has allowed me to be more confident in all of those aspects in my life where I was struggling a lot before I came out, she told SwimSwam. In an SI feature, USA Swimming representatives said they "have no issue" with her . Lia Thomas had spent three years as part of the University men's swimming team as Will Thomas. She started on hormone replacement therapy in May 2019 and came out as trans that fall, yet she still had to compete on the mens team. One spectator spoke out as transgender college swimmer Lia Thomas prepared to crush his female competitors during an NCAA finals qualifier event on Thursday. But its its its its hard. Austin, TX. This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Thomas, 22, kicked off the three-day event, held at the University of Akron, strong in the preliminaries Friday. Transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas was crushed twice in a women's swim meet by another transgender competitor who is (R) University of Pennsylvania's Lia Thomas had caused controversy for shattering multiple records at women's swim meets and wiping out opponents. She would have finished first again in 2021, as Paige Madden won that with a time of 04:34.61. I don't know what to say. Pool and open water. Lia Thomas's swimmer profile, including times, results, and more. Receive small business resources and advice about entrepreneurial info, home based business, business franchises and startup opportunities for entrepreneurs. Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas powered to a historic victory in the 500-yard freestyle at the US collegiate championships in Atlanta on Friday in the latest milestone win of her controversial career. Lia Thomas took control in the final 100 yards of the 500-yard freestyle to make history Thursday as the first transgender woman to win an NCAA "I didn't have a whole lot of expectation for this meet," said Thomas, a former male swimmer for Penn State. She recently rose to prominence after destroying the majority of female university records. Hungry Shark Arena Ubisoft, You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Please wait, loading. At a meet including Princeton and Cornell on Nov. 462 after competing for three "It's really upsetting because Lia doesn't seem to care how it makes anyone else feel," one unidentified female swimmer. 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. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images). Transgender college swimmer Lia Thomas has spoken out about the anti-trans hostility she has faced as an athlete. Jenner has claimed that Thomas wasn't the rightful winner of the 500-yard freestyle final at the NCAA college championships. Rankings. Reporter: You're a Virginia Tech swimmer. Thomas is not the first athlete to be the focus of debate about who is allowed to participate in womens sports. "[59] As of June 2022, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia have laws prohibiting public schools from allowing the participation of transgender girls in school sports for girls. Earlier that same year, swimmer Lia Thomas sparked a national debate after becoming the first trans athlete to win an NCAA Division I national championship. Another of Thomas' teammates reportedly told Outkick that other swimmers on the UPenn team are often upset and cry, knowing Thomas will beat them. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images). Its a really honestly I dont know what to say, he said, stumbling over his words. One spectator directly called out transgender swimmer Lia Thomas before he crushed his female competitors. Lia Thomas stood tall and smiled wide atop the championship podium, her nearly 6-foot-4 frame pushing her head past the top of the Ivy Leagues green photo backdrop. [39], In 2021, conservative and right-wing media began widely covering Thomas, including Fox News. I am a student and a blogger all alone, Gurmeet. Beginning in 2021, she became part of the public debate about transgender women in sports. Both are dynamic Black cisgender women who have had transphobia weaponized against them by the same people who would come after trans. The narrative surrounding Lia Thomas by transphobes is that Lia Thomas was only ranked 400 something before she transitioned, which isn't true. 2. Lia has every right to live her life authentically, the letter says. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. A trans rights activist, Bailar said the outrage against Thomas inclusion on the team was not really about questions of sporting fairness. Thomas defeated Virginia freshman Emma Weyant by 1.75. Lia Thomas, a transgender woman, finishes the 200 yard Freestyle for the University of Pennsylvania at an Ivy League swim meet against Harvard University A transgender swimmer from the University of Pennsylvania who recently dominated a swim meet was slammed by a teammate who claimed she. Looking at the last 10 NCAA free title races, in the 500-yard freestyle category, Thomas would have only come first in two of those races over the last 10 years. Lia, who used to go by Will Thomas before her transition in 2019, made headlines last week after shattering multiple US women's records at the University of. You dont get to slice me in half and be like, Yes, you are a man here but not here, or, Yes, Lia is a woman but not here. We dont exist in parts. DeSantis proclaimed a Florida resident the 'rightful winner. The University of Pennsylvania swimmer was the meets highest-scoring swimmer, setting stage for next months NCAA championships, where she is favored to win the 200- and 500-yard freestyles. With one. [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. Lia Thomas, whose real name is William, took a huge lead in the second half of the race and finished in 4 minutes, 37.32 seconds, which is three seconds better than his personal best and three-tenths of a second faster than the pool record. She would have finished first again in 2021, as Paige Madden won that with a time of 04:34.61. "[37], In July 2022, the University of Pennsylvania nominated Thomas for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year Award,[38] one out of 577 athletes nominated for this award. That the victories came at three different lengths was all the more remarkable because Thomas previously excelled primarily at longer distances. In 2021 and 2022, her athletic achievements as a trans woman became a point of media debate. [4] She began swimming at the age of five,[5] and was sixth in the state high school swimming championships, competing for Westlake High School. Rankings. Thomas' time was a season best and a little more than 9. [2], In a May 2022 interview with Good Morning America, Thomas defended herself from criticism, said that "I intend to keep swimming", and that "It's been a goal of mine to swim at Olympic trials for a very long time, and I would love to see that through. CollegeSwimming National Swimmer-of-the-Week. "I've received several threats to myself and my work because I present evidence based facts on the unfairness of male inclusion in women's sport," Davies said. She has followed National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Ivy League regulations since she began her transition in 2019 by starting hormone replacement therapy. Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas had a pretty dominant performance at the Ivy League Championships this week. ", Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. She has a brother by the name of Wes Thomas who is also a swimmer and schools at the University of Pennsylvania. The University of Pennsylvania swimmer became the first transgender athlete to win a National Collegiate. University of Pennsylvania swimmer and newly anointed national champion Lia Thomas has found herself at the center of America's debate over transgender One day after finishing third behind Thomas and Virginia Cavaliers star Emma Weyant, Sullivan penned an op-ed for Newsweek, in. Thomas, formerly known as Will Thomas, competed on the University of Pennsylvania's men's swimming team for the first half of his collegiate career before deciding to transition and join. Thomas raced as Will Thomas during her first three years at Pennsylvania and in 2019 was ranked outside the top 500 men in the US. Your IP: 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. By Alan Blinder. 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. Before her transition, she competed for three years at Penn as a man, named Will Thomas. All Rights Reserved. She competed as a man named Will Thomas for three years at Penn before the transmission. lia thomas swimmer ranking before and after. 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. Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas reportedly made an arrogant comment about how "easy" one of her races against female opposition was. For the 2021-22 Penn women's swim team, Lia Thomas holds the fastest time in the So between her junior season and now, the times are the same, but the results are substantially different, because the fastest genetic female swimmers. Lia Thomas, swimming for the first time this season as a transgender woman, made more history Thursday ATLANTA In the seconds after becoming the first known transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I championship, University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas lingered alone in. We are sorry that this post was not useful for you! It's the first season this announcement has been played before events, said Ivy League spokesperson Lia Thomas (right) and a University of Pennsylvania teammate ahead of the 500-yard freestyle race at. Lia has every right to live her life authentically, the letter says as Will Thomas for three years part! Men 's Swimming team as Will Thomas for three years at Penn as a trans became... Ncaa finals qualifier event on Thursday lengths was all the more remarkable because Thomas previously excelled primarily at distances... Of our platform covering Thomas, 22, kicked off the three-day event, held at the Ivy Championships. 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