Lia Thomas has made a splash in US collegiate women’s swimming with her dominant performances for the University of Pennsylvania, but just a few years ago, she competed on the men’s team.
The 22-year-old’s runaway success in the pool this season has reignited debate about inclusivity in sports and the competition requirements for transgender athletes.
Thomas’ case has already prompted the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to amend its policies, and USA Swimming, which governs the sport at the elite level, is considering changes as well.
Photo: AFP
In one of only a few interviews given since the controversy ignited, Thomas said she realized she was transgender in the summer of 2018, but initially still wanted to compete on the men’s team, because of the uncertainty that awaited her with her transition.
“I didn’t know what I would be able to do or [if I would] be able to keep swimming,” she told SwimSwam magazine’s podcast. “That caused a lot of distress to me. I was struggling.”
Thomas said she began her transition in May 2019 with hormone replacement therapy — a combination of estrogen and testosterone suppressants.
In her first season on the women’s swim team, she is putting her opponents on notice.
At a meet in Ohio in early December last year, she notched the best times of the year in the 200m and 500m freestyle. At a meet against Harvard last weekend, she won the 100m and 200m freestyle.
The NCAA already required transgender women to take testosterone suppressants for a year before becoming eligible to compete on women’s teams, which Thomas did.
Yet now, transgender women are expected to be asked to meet certain testosterone thresholds set for each sport.
Some say because Thomas went through puberty before transitioning, her muscular build gives her an unfair advantage.
“Lia is overperforming in women’s events,” the Women’s Sports Policy Working Group said in a letter to the NCAA.
The group cited a preliminary study showing that Thomas’ results are “too close to her pre-transition bests in men’s events.”
However, Thomas’ backers say such analysis is not scientifically sound and only serves to perpetuate the discrimination experienced by transgender athletes.
The University of Pennsylvania has voiced support for Thomas in the run-up to the NCAA Championships in March.
If Thomas qualifies, she could find herself competing against Izzi Henig, a transgender man who swims for Yale, but decided not to begin hormone replacement therapy to remain on the women’s team.
In a head-to-head battle earlier this month, Henig beat Thomas.
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