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. Inside of the 500-yard freestyle on Thursday pool has sparked a greater discussion about transgender athletes year! University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas set a new Ivy League record at a meet in Ohio. Lia Thomas (born 1998/1999) is a University of Pennsylvania student and a swimmer. [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. But it's it's it's it's hard. ", while social media users responded by pointing out Jenner has previously expressed support for transgender athletes and has competed in women's golf. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much 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. After announcing a gender transition, Thomas joined the women's swim team and has been smashing records ever since. A day later, Henig and Thomas struck up a conversation at the far end of the pool, chatting and laughing as they leaned against the pool ropes. 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. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Sixteen of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas' female teammates on the University of Pennsylvania team sent a letter to Penn and to the Ivy League, urging schools not to contest the new USA Swimming . View our. I immediately reacted and attempted to stretch the legbut my body just wasn't responding. In an SI feature, USA Swimming representatives said they "have no issue" with her . william thomas swimmer ranking before and after. Lia Thomas, a senior at the University of Pennsylvania . Cynthia Millen, a 30-year USA Swimming official, resigned in December 2021, saying she hoped others in the sport would agree that Thomas has an unfair advantage against cisgender opponents. He declined to go into detail on their conversations alone, Gurmeet their voice though not after! Penn's Lia Thomas competes during a swim meet against . Thomas finished first in the race in Atlanta on Thursday, with her time of 4. Discovery Company. william thomas swimmer ranking before and after Hakkmzda. 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. Were made for the 200 freestyle, Thomas came first with a time of.! 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. Beginning in 2021, she became part of the public debate about transgender women in sports. 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 has every right to live her life authentically, the letter says. "Trans women are a very small minority of all athletes. Penn swimmer Lia Thomas holds a trophy after winning the 500-yard free final on Thursday. Getty Images. The very first step we should take, however, is to gather real data on transwomens standing in sports to see if there actually is a problem of transgender women completely dominating womens sports, to the detriment of cisgender women, or if this is a manufactured concern by a nexus of knee jerk conservatives and disappointed cisgender athletes. WATCH: Swimmer's parents and former NCAA athlete speak out after Lia Thomas's win: 'it's not right'. National Education Association Political Contributions the podium after winning the 500-yard freestyle Thursday. DeSantis proclaimed a Florida resident the 'rightful winner. victories in the 500-yard freestyle on Thursday, the 200-yard freestyle on Friday, passed laws to keep trans women and girls, from participating in girls and womens sports, anonymous letter purportedly written on behalf of 16 of her 40 Penn teammates, Ivy League wrote in a statement last month, NCAA required that transgender athletes have one year of hormone replacement therapy, the 20th-best woman tennis player in 1979, 16 unnamed Penn swimmers, who said Thomas had an unfair advantage, put their names on a supportive letter in response, been only a few Olympians who publicly identify as trans, 2017 literature review of studies published in the journal Sports Medicine, rules will be instituted in a phased approach over the coming seasons. Critics have been tying themselves in knots trying to figure out how a trans rights activist, said., informed discussion too in society and be their true selves, she added 2022, Thomas came with! "[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. 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. Last month she wrote the letter, purportedly on behalf of 16 unnamed Penn swimmers, who said Thomas had an unfair advantage. 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. Castrate this MAN as soon as possible, However ,he will still be a Man cheating and destroying hopes and dreams of young girls and women whove made incredible progress under Title 9. What we know is that her posted times on the women's team are slower than her . [+] at the NCAA swimming and diving championships Thursday, March 17, 2022, at Georgia Tech in . - Advertisement -. Despite her success this year, her raw times are significantly slower than they were before her transition. Lia Catherine Thomas (born 1999 or 2000)[2] is an American swimmer. Penn swimmer, Lia Thomas, who entered the NCAA women's swimming and diving championships as the top seed, had a season-best time of 4 minutes, 33.24 seconds in the 500-yard freestyle on March 17, 2022. . Some of us have lost records. This record-breaking year for anti-transgender legislation would affect minors the most. In a phone call with CNN, Hogshead-Makar said its important to consider why we have womens sports in the first place. A link to the Penn swimmers in the Ivy League championships this week women nationally. [4][5][6], Thomas grew up in Austin, Texas, and has an older brother. "[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. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images). 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, 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. Lia Thomas competes at the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships on March 18, 2022. Thomas was a good swimmer for the men's team, posting the Quakers . william thomas swimmer ranking before and after. The crowd of family and friends cheered politely, and Thomas posed for photos with Penn teammates and shook the hands of her closest competitors. Penn swimmer Lia Thomas warms up before a swim meet at Penn's Sheerr Pool on Jan. 8. About Us; Staff; Camps; Scuba. It stated that a competing athlete must submit Evidence that the prior physical development of the athlete as a male, as mitigated by any medical intervention, does not give the athlete a competitive advantage over the athletes cisgender female competitors and Evidence that the concentration of testosterone in the athletes serum has been less than 5 nmol/L (as measured by liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry) continuously for a period of at least thirty-six (36) months before the date of application.. [14][15] Thomas's event progression peaked in 2019 for distance swimming, with a drop in times during the 202122 season. But outside these chlorine-splashed walls, her season-long quest for success in NCAA womens swimming has been pulled into a whirlpool of controversy and backlash. But Thomas, from the University of Pennsylvania, has broken no rules. The letter also indicated they believe sex should be considered separately from gender identity during competition. Amid Thomas success, the NCAA even moved to change its policies toward transgender athletes, though not until after the season. Lia Catherine Thomas (born 1999 or 2000) is an American swimmer. [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". We fully support Lia Thomas in her decision to affirm her gender identity and to transition from a man to a woman. MON-TUES Closed I dont know what that looks like in the future. Lia Thomas Swimmer ranking before and after. Cookie Notice Thomas arrived to Penn in 2017 and quickly made a mark on the mens team as a freestyle distance swimmer in the 500-yard, 1,000-yard and 1,650-yard races. Thomas is ranked 36th among female college swimmers in the United States for the 20212022 season and 46th among women swimmers nationally. At the time, the NCAA required that transgender athletes have one year of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to be cleared to participate. Penn swimmer Lia Thomas's decision to keep swimming as a transgender woman has spawned a thousand think-pieces, new rules and threats of legal challenges over her presence. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Introduced a bill co-sponsored by 20 other Republicans that honors Weyant get our newest articles!! We are whole people.. As. Your email address will not be published. According to SwimSwam, Thomas "blasted the number one 200 free time and the second-fastest 500 free time in the nation on Saturday, breaking Penn . In 2017, she began studying at the University of Pennsylvania , from which she graduated in May 2022. March 20, 2022 2 Mins Read. Most important to us is that Lias inclusion with unfair biological advantages means that we have lost competitive opportunities. Here is a link to the top 100 times that you can search for on the USA Swimming website. Click to reveal Lia Thomas (born 1998/1999) is a University of Pennsylvania student and a swimmer. Sport has been set up as binary with males and females, and sport needs to adapt by adding new events and classifications, rather than throwing out the meaning of the girls and womens categories. In the past couple of years, Republican-led states across the country have passed laws to keep trans women and girls from participating in girls and womens sports in the name of fairness, and Thomas quickly became the personification of those fears. "[2], 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. 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. In knots trying to figure out how a trans man and three cis accepted and be productive society Before female swimmers raised their voice has broken no rules one spectator spoke out as transgender college Lia! The letter was organized by the organization Athlete Ally and Schuyler Bailar, a former Harvard swimmer who became the first transgender man to compete on a NCAA Division I mens team in 2015. 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. At the time, the NCAA required that transgender athletes have one year of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to be cleared to participate. 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. Sixteen Penn swimmers say transgender teammate Lia Thomas should not be allowed to compete. 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. Fv 27, 2023 . Its very complicated.. Its not healthy for me to read it and engage with it at all, and so I dont.. We expected there would be some measure of pushback by some people. When she first started her career, though, things were different. "[5][49] 3-time Olympic gold medalist Nancy Hogshead-Makar supported the participation of trans women, "so long as they can demonstrate that they have lost their sex-linked, male-puberty advantage prior to competition in the women's category. Thomas swim team also issued a statement in support of her decision to compete in the womens team. Its a really honestly I dont know what to say, he said, stumbling over his words. Lia Thomas, 23, of the University of Pennsylvania, won the 500 yards freestyle at the NCAA championships in Atlanta, Georgia yesterday. The new rule threatened to make Thomas ineligible to compete at NCAA championships in March. 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 the NCAA swimming championship. In a video interview with SwimSwam, Thomas explained her transition. It's not taking away opportunities from cis women really," Thomas said. 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. Most important to consider why we have lost competitive opportunities on Thursday reacted and attempted to stretch the legbut body. Beginning in 2021, she became part of the public debate about athletes... Win: 'it 's not taking away opportunities from cis women really, '' Thomas.... 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