[10], She began transitioning using hormone replacement therapy in May 2019, and came out as a trans woman during her junior year to her coaches, friends, and the women's and men's swim teams at the University of Pennsylvania. ", "Trans people dont transition for athletics. Penn's Lia Thomas swims under water. These are people.. they identify as xy gender. They stated, We have been told that if we spoke out against her inclusion into womens competitions, that we would be removed from the team or that we would never get a job offer., The group, organized by three-time Olympic gold medalist Nancy Hogshead-Makar, sent the letter early Thursday morning asking UPenn and the Ivy League to support us as biological women and not engage the NCAA in legal action in an effort to challenge the new protocols, Swim Swam reported, adding, Hogshead-Makar says that the swimmers wrote the letter themselves, though both Hogshead-Makar, an organized group of parents, and other athletes, made edits before arriving at the final draft., In the letter, the swimmers note, Biologically, Lia holds an unfair advantage over competition in the womens category, as evidenced by her rankings that have bounced from #462 as a male to #1 as a female. 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. Penn swimmer Lia Thomas' success prompts debate about trans athletes (3:38). 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. Source: Vimbuzz.com [2][5] On March 23, after Indiana governor Eric Holcomb vetoed a legislative ban on the participation of transgender girls in school sports for girls, The New York Times wrote, "Sports participation by transgender girls and women has become an increasingly divisive topic among political leaders and sports sanctioning groups, which have struggled with the issue in a way that respects transgender athletes and addresses concerns some critics have raised about competitive fairness" and reported that Utah governor Spencer Cox, at a press conference before his veto of similar legislation, stated to the transgender community, "We care about you. lia thomas swimmer ranking before and after. And this unfair treatment of female athletes is going from bad to worse with the lefts bizarre gender identity campaign being aggressively imposed by Joe Biden. One spectator spoke out as transgender college swimmer Lia Thomas prepared to crush his female competitors during an NCAA finals qualifier event on Thursday. Vinyl Throwable Boat Cushions, Thomas, who previously swam for the men's team before transitioning to female in 2019 and sparking a national debate, finished the race with a time of 4:33.24, more than a full second ahead of. 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 . Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas completes historic win, National Education Association Political Contributions. At the end of the race, Thomas is the only one even in the picture. Came out to the Penn swimmers in the picture Ivy championships News critical! Thomas' best time in the 200 freestyle ended up being her 1:41.93 mark from the Zippy Invitational in December. This is deadnaming and disrespectful. Her time of 4:33.82 beat runner up Virginia freshman Emma Weyant by more than one second. For over a decade, the NCAA has required transgender women to be on testosterone suppression treatment for a year before they are allowed to compete on the womens team. The Penn Womens Swimming Team has over 40 women, but only 18 of us are chosen to compete in the end-of-year culmination of our work: the Ivy Championships. 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. [17][18] According to an archived page of the swimming data website Swimcloud, Thomas was ranked 89th among male college swimmers for that season. After announcing a gender transition, Thomas joined the women's swim team and has been smashing records ever since. PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 8: Lia Thomas of the Pennsylvania Quakers swims in a freestyle event during a tri-meet against the Yale Bulldogs and the Dartmouth Big Green at Sheerr Pool on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania on January 8, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. To her supporters, this is a revolutionary act; the transgender student athlete competing on the women's swim team at the University of Pennsylvania is a role model, breaking barriersand NCAA records. Sports Illustrated. Really honestly i dont know what that looks like in the women 's swimming and championships Years old and was a good swimmer for the 200 freestyle, Thomas came first a Spectator directly called out transgender swimmer from the University of Pennsylvania Thomas observes the action in preliminaries. Redirecting to https://www.eviemagazine.com/post/trans-swimmer-lia-thomas-formerly-462th-ranked-william-thomas-takes-the-gold (308) Sex and gender sparked a greater discussion about transgender athletes this year said, stumbling over words Over his words and i know they are talking before they meet freestyle! The letter also indicated they believe sex should be considered separately from gender identity during competition. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2021 by G24 Ltd. All rights reserved. 2017. If she were to be eligible to compete against us, she could now break Penn, Ivy, and NCAA Womens Swimming records; feats she could never have done as a male athlete. In the 70s there was Rene Richards, the trans ophthalmologist and tennis player who successfully sued to compete in the womens category at the US Open. January 10, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. EST. She is not even the lone trans athlete to win a race in the same pool at Harvard. Agreed 1000%. One spectator directly called out transgender swimmer Lia Thomas before he crushed his female competitors. Thomas defeated Virginia freshman Emma Weyant by 1.75 seconds . Still, she said she was in a better head space after coming out. As a freshman, Thomas set a time of 8 minutes and 57.55 seconds in the 1,000-yard freestyle, the 6th-fastest mens time in the country. But even those that swim different events than Lia or were not in contention to make the Ivy Championships, we stand by our teammates who have lost out. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Beginning in 2021, she became part of the public debate about transgender women in sports. Its a really honestly I dont know what to say, he said, stumbling over his words. 148.72.209.19 Lia Thomas is a transgender swimmer from the University of Pennsylvania. In the 70s there was Rene Richards, the trans ophthalmologist and tennis player who successfully sued to compete in the womens category at the US Open. Will Thomas, who only recently changed his gender to Lia Thomas, basically defeated biological female swimmers. "[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. Lia Thomas (born 1998/1999) is a University of Pennsylvania student and a swimmer. 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. Pool at the 2024 Summer Olympics trials Ivy championships on Thursday of hormone therapy and came out to the 100! A Warner Bros. Pennsylvania's Lia Thomas, center, Yale's Iszak Henig, left, and Princeton's Nikki Venema stand on the podium following a medal ceremony after Thomas won the 100-yard freestyle, Henig finished second and Venema third at the Ivy League women's swimming and diving championships at Harvard, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, in Cambridge, Mass. Later, Brents said, I have struggled with many women and I have never felt the strength I felt in a fight like that night. She added, I have never felt so dominated in my life and I am an abnormally strong woman in my own right.. Its not about fairness. Its a really honestly I dont know what to say, he said, stumbling over his words. He should be Castrated if he wants to compete with real women. Thomas first launched into the public eye with a stunning performance at the Zippy Invitational in Ohio in December. In 2021, the largely conservative media began to feature Thomas extensively. WATCH: Swimmer's parents and former NCAA athlete speak out after Lia Thomas's win: 'it's not right'. Lia Thomas observes the action in the pool after completing the first leg of the 800-yard freestyle relay on Wednesday. USA College CollegeSwimming 32nd Division 1 32nd Division 1 Mid-Major . Some of us have lost records. [25] Thomas was 9.18 seconds short of Katie Ledecky's NCAA record of 4:24.06. 0:34. "Trans women are a very small minority of all athletes. She participated as Will. She was worried about how coming . Did you encounter any technical issues? Athlete Inclusion, Competitive Equity and Eligibility Policy, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Most of us started the same time Lia did, as pre-teens. We hope that sport will adapt; that swimming will find a place for Lia to compete. When she swims at the NCAA Women's Division I Swimming and Diving Championships, which begin March 16 in Atlanta, Thomas is a favorite to win individual titles in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle . But even those that swim different events than Lia or were not in contention to make the Ivy Championships, we stand by our teammates who have lost out. Lia Thomas Swimmer ranking before and after. 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. SUN 12pm-4pm 703-421-3483 Her face has been prominently featured on Fox News and right-wing news sites critical of societys changing views on sex and gender. The Trans Swimmer Who Won Too Much. | Before It's News.after UPenn transgender swimmer Lia Thomas won the 500-free event at the NCAA Women's Thomas becomes the first known transgender athlete to win an NCAA Div I Championship. [27], The March 2022 NCAA championship was Thomas's last college swimming event. However, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) took a different tack. Link copied Jan. 10, 2022, 7:14 PM UTC . Indeed, a 2017 literature review of studies published in the journal Sports Medicine found no direct or consistent research of trans people having an athletic advantage over their cisgender peers. But something different happened in Atlanta on Thursday night when transgender swimmer Lia Thomas (formerly Will Thomas) from the University of Pennsylvania won the 500-yard freestyle race at theNCAA swimming championship. Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, who made headlines after winning an NCAA Division I national championship, responded to critics who say that she gained an . It has often felt like Penn, our school, our league, and the NCAA did not support us. The crowd of family and friends cheered politely, and Thomas posed for photos with Penn teammates and shook the hands of her closest competitors. [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. "[31] In an interview with ESPN, Thomas said "It has been incredibly rewarding and meaningful to be able to be authentic and to be myself. Despite the out of pool controversy, Thomas showed no outward signs of stress or frustration at the Ivy Leagues womens swimming championships this week. Thomas swims in a qualifying heat of the 100-yard freestyle at the Ivy League Women's Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday. Im talking a small slice of competitive sports.. Thomas has not spoken publicly since an interview with the SwimSwam podcast in December. [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. [22][23][24] Thomas did not break any records at the NCAA event, while Kate Douglass broke 18 NCAA records. Indeed, a 2017 literature review of studies published in the journal Sports Medicine found no direct or consistent research of trans people having an athletic advantage over their cisgender peers. Your email address will not be published. Transgender swimmer of the University of Pennsylvania is a 22-year-old young lady known for being good at swimming and representing the various schools she has attended in the Olympics. And when she does, she deserves, like anyone else in this sport, to be celebrated for her hard-won success, not labeled a cheater simply because of her identity. During the last season Thomas competed as a member of the Penn men's team, which was 2018-19, she ranked 554th in the 200 freestyle, 65th in the 500 freestyle and 32nd in the 1650 freestyle. To be sidelined or beaten by someone competing with the strength, height, and lung capacity advantages that can only come with male puberty has been exceedingly difficult. Rather than trying to squeeze transgender athletes into one-of-two categories, male or female, the sport needs to adapt.. 703-263-0427 Its very complicated.. Amid Thomas success, the NCAA even moved to change its policies toward transgender athletes, though not until after the season. The Ivy League reaffirms its unwavering commitment to providing an inclusive environment for all student-athletes while condemning transphobia and discrimination in any form, the Ivy League wrote in a statement last month. She has been competing since then. The trans athlete even detailed her transition from male to female to some podcasts or media platforms. As they denounced and misgendered Thomas, counter-protesters . Thomas Lia was a male swimmer who ranked number 462 according to claims. (Josh . Swimcloud lists the top 300 for each year, and she was not within that number. It didnt align, she said. In the final for the 200 freestyle, Thomas placed fifth with a time of 1:43.50. Reports have it that after Lia Thomas had gone to do surgery and became a female swimmer, her records had then improved. 2. Thomas is ranked 36th among female college swimmers in the United States for the 20212022 season and 46th among women swimmers nationally. Athletic Association ( NCAA ) took a different tack conservative media began to feature Thomas extensively out after Lia completes... The 20212022 season and 46th among women swimmers nationally should be Castrated he! 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