Who is Lia Thomas? First transgender athlete to become NCAA swimming champion

American swimmer Lia Thomas became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I title and become the first-ever transgender athlete to be the NCAA swimming champion by finishing the women’s 500-yard freestyle final on Thursday. She entered the NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships as a top seed and clinched the title with a season-best timing of 4 minutes, 33.24 seconds. However, her major feat has sparked all sorts of controversies and conflicting thoughts such as can an individual be a true supporter of transgender rights while maintaining that an athlete like Thomas shouldn’t be allowed to compete in the women’s division.

Controversies surrounding Lia Thomas-

Fewer than 10 protesters were spotted outside the Georgis Tech facility carrying banners that read, “Save Women’s Sports” in the stands as the inclusion of the transgender swimmer sparked controversy, even within the sport. Thomas is a University of Pennsylvania senior, who followed the NCAA and Ivy League rules ever since she began her transition with hormone replacement therapy in 2019. Few sports enthusiasts feel Thomas has a biological advantage in women’s events, as she competed as a male at the University of Pennsylvania previously. 

Despite not achieving anything of national significance, Thomas found little success as a make and went on to go through hormone-replacement therapy, complying all rules set up by the NCAA for transgender athletes. She then joined the Pennsylvania women’s teams and became one of the best freestyle swimmers in the country. During her triumph in the 500-yard freestyle final on Thursday, she touches 1.75 seconds ahead of everyone else.

What has been said so far?

As reported by AP, a three-time swimming gold medallist in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Nancy Hogshead-Makar who is now an outspoken proponent of women’s sports spoke about Thomas and said the opposing viewpoints about Thomas are actually not at odds. “We’ve got people who are twisting themselves into pretzels trying to justify the fact that they didn’t get their act together and change the policy so that it’s fair for biological women,” Hogshead-Makar said after Thomas became the first transgender swimmer to win the national championship.

Meanwhile, Thomas was also top seed in the 200-yard freestyle event on Friday and the 10th seed in the 100-yard freestyle event on Saturday. Revealing her thoughts after the major haul, Thomas said, “I didn’t have a whole lot of expectation for this meet. I was just happy to be here and race and compete the best I could”. Shedding light on the protests against her participation in the women’s division, she added, “I try to ignore it as much as I can. I try to focus on my swimming .. and just try to block out everything else.”

(Image: AP)