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. Who wins a womens swimming competition? Female college swimmers in the preliminaries for the PM to say sorry person Transgender athletes this year junior year a qualifying heat of the 100-yard at. Lia Thomas shakes the hand of Harvard University swimmer Molly Hamlin following the 200-yard freestyle on Friday. She fell in national rankings once she started HRT in her junior year. Further, we ask that Penn and the Ivy League refrain from suing the NCAA, or try to interfere with or weaken these new Athlete Inclusion Policies, that they be allowed to stand, so that we are able to finish our swimming season with distinction and pride. print. First again in 2021, as Paige Madden won that with a time of.! The action you just performed triggered the security solution. Her face has been prominently featured on Fox News and right-wing news sites critical of societys changing views on sex and gender. 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. Discovery Company. Feb 17. The organization also proposed an open competition category.. 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. Lia Catherine Thomas (born 1999 or 2000)[2] is an American swimmer. Jumping to judgement based on political partisanship is not helpful. In the finals for the 100 freestyle, Thomas placed eighth out of eight competitors in 48.18 seconds, finishing last. Its very complicated.. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The identities of the teammates were not revealed, and CNN has not been able to independently verify the number of teammates. The swimmer then underwent testosterone suppression treatment for over two and a half years to be able to compete in the. View our. We transition to be happy and authentic and our true selves. This is deadnaming and disrespectful. 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. Penn's Lia Thomas competes during a swim meet against . (Josh . Did you encounter any technical issues? 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. [33][34][35][36] In response to the decision, Thomas said: "The new FINA release is deeply upsetting. LGBTQ Penn. About Us; Staff; Camps; Scuba. Although she has said that she didn't want trans athletes excluded, Davis argued that it was unfair for cisgender women that Thomas was competing against them. He chose to honor runner-up Emma Weyant as the winner of the 500-yard freestyle instead. [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. ", "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. Privacy Policy Agreement * I agree to the Terms of use and Privacy Policy. It has often felt like Penn, our school, our league, and the NCAA did not support us. Thomas was a good swimmer for the men's team, posting the Quakers . Our newsletter to get bigger when she dives into the pool has sparked a greater discussion about transgender this. The swimmers wrote in their letter, as reported by Swimming World Magazine: We, 16 members of the Penn Womens Swimming Team and our family members, thank USA Swimming, for listening to our request to prioritize fairness for biological women in our elite competitions. Performance & security by Cloudflare. She swam on Penn's men's team for two years, before realizing she was a woman in 2018, she has said. Signs of courteous, informed discussion too spoke out as transgender college swimmer Lia Thomas prepared crush! 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. 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. appreciated. March 20, 2022 2 Mins Read. Read more: How far left teachers in the red state of Idaho successfully encouraged students to go, transgender, Meanwhile, the NCAA looks the other way when it comes to the unjust treatment of biological female athletes. [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. She'll probably be a favorite at the NCAA championships in March, even as people inside and outside the sport debate her place on the pool deck. Accueil Uncategorized william thomas swimmer ranking before and after. 16 Penn swimmers send letter saying teammate Lia Thomas has an unfair advantage. 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. Im talking a small slice of competitive sports.. It was awkward and uncomfortable, she said, and her speed suffered as her muscles weakened from the hormone therapy. Happening and ramping up after the first COVID vaccinations not really about questions of fairness! The Ivy League, the University of Pennsylvania, and other groups linked with the University of Pennsylvania Law School all published statements in favor of Thomas. Thomas then started to transition in May of 2019, beginning hormone replacement therapy, and came out to the Penn swimmers in the fall of 2019. With a calm and cool demeanor, she did precisely what was expected of her. ', "A Look At the Numbers and Times: No Denying the Advantages of Lia Thomas", "What Rank Did Lia Thomas Stand at While Competing in the Men's Swimming Division? lia thomas swimmer ranking before and after. Click to reveal She took the year off of school and competitive swimming due to the pandemic and returned for this season on the womens team, after about 2 and a half years of HRT. Read the deep dive on Trans swimmer Will Thomas at ESPN Lia can be anything she wants, but it's garbage to think it's fair for her to compete against the other girls in women's sports - and she knows that. Sterling, VA 20164 [5] On the men's swim team in 20182019, Thomas finished second in the men's 500, 1,000, and 1,650-yard freestyle at the Ivy League championships as a sophomore in 2019. On Thursday, 16 members of the Penn Women's Swimming Team sent a letter to the University of Pennsylvania and the Ivy League asking them to refrain from suing the NCAA over its new Athlete Inclusion Policies that would bar Lia Thomas, formerly known as Will Thomas, from participating in the NCAA championships in March. 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. [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. Lia appears to have chosen to identify with the female gender. 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. There isnt a middle ground, said Schuyler Bailar, who is a trans man. 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. . It is discriminatory and will only serve to harm all women. When she first started her career, though, things were different. In the preliminaries for the 100 freestyle, Thomas finished tenth. Despite the out of pool controversy, Thomas showed no outward signs of stress or frustration at the Ivy Leagues womens swimming championships this week. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. 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