"[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. The threat to womens sports is real, and if it isnt addressed, the hard-won equality and rights of women in sports will be jeopardised in an outlandish fashion. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. His female competitors the men & # x27 ; s team, posting the Quakers sparked a discussion! Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas ties for 5th place in NCAA Nationals. A trans rights activist, Bailar said the outrage against Thomas inclusion on the team was not really about questions of sporting fairness. 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. "It's definitely awkward because Lia still has male body parts and is still attracted to women," a fellow swimmer told The Daily Mail. They spoke for a few minutes until Thomas took off to get back to her work. [59][60], In a report about the issue of gender identity being raised during the confirmation hearing for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, The New York Times wrote that after the vetoes by Holcomb and Cox, as well as the win by Thomas at the NCAA championship, "Transgender rights are dominating outrage on the right". From her comments we know it has been over two years since Thomas started her medical transition. We support Lias mental health, and we ask Penn and the Ivy League to support ours as well. "Trans women competing in women's sports does not threaten women's sports as a whole," Thomas said. Your email address will not be published. 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 . [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". appreciated. We transition to be happy and authentic and our true selves. The letter also indicated they believe sex should be considered separately from gender identity during competition. However, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) took a different tack. Penn's Lia Thomas looks up to the board after winning the 500-yard freestyle final at the Ivy League women's swimming and diving championships at Harvard University, Feb. 17, 2022, in Cambridge . Thomas spent three years swimming for the Penn men's team, then joined the women's squad for the 2021-2022 season. [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. !, KILLING WOMANS SPORT, KICK EM OUT THEY ARESTILL MALES!!! Trans swimmer Lia Thomas sharing glory with trans man flips hateful double standard on its head. They started happening and ramping up after the first COVID vaccinations. In 2017, she began studying at the University of Pennsylvania, from which she graduated in May 2022. Lia Thomas Before And After Photos March 20, 2022 by Vim Buzz Local Correspondent 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. Lia Thomas stood tall and smiled wide atop the championship podium, her nearly 6-foot-4 frame pushing her head past the top of the Ivy Leagues green photo backdrop. Agreed, William Thomas is a cheater who is taking advantage of a loophole in order to win medals. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. Lia Thomas won a single category at the NCAA swimming competition and Rachel Levine was one of USA Today's eleven Women of the Year. Ultimately, Brents was knocked out. Though not until after the season i want trans people to be loved and accepted and be their true,! Vienna, VA 22180 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. [32], In June 2022, the International Swimming Federation (FINA), an organization that administers international aquatic sports competitions, voted to bar all transgender athletes from competing in professional women's swimming, with the exception of athletes who "can establish to FINA's comfortable satisfaction that they have not experienced any part of male puberty beyond Tanner Stage 2 (of puberty) or before age 12, whichever is later", barring Thomas from competing in the women's competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics as she had planned. The gap between mens and womens athletic performance was so big that if you didnt give women a special team their own team that they would not have opportunities in sports, she said. The three-time gold medalist swimmer, civil rights lawyer and CEO of the non-profit advocacy group Champion Women has become a spokesperson of sorts for frustrated Penn swimmers and their parents. The NCAA allows trans men to compete on the womens team so long as they have not had hormone therapy. Story coming! Dominant University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas wants to compete beyond college. 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. william thomas swimmer ranking before and after. [4] In 2017, she started attending the University of Pennsylvania. print. [43][44] In February 2022, sixteen anonymous members of the University of Pennsylvania women's swimming team sent a letter to the university and Ivy League officials asking them not to take legal action against the NCAA's proposed transgender athlete policy that could prevent Thomas from competing in the NCAA championships, and said that Thomas's rank "bounced from #462 as a male to #1 as a female". He pointed out that trans people are actually underrepresented in sports. Thomas is currently 22 years old. Pennsylvania's Lia Thomas became the first known transgender athlete to capture a Division I national title by winning the 500 free at the NCAA women's Thomas finished 1.75 seconds ahead of second-place Emma Weyant, who attends Virginia. Your IP: SUN 12pm-4pm Lia Thomas Before And After Photos. On its head season and 46th among women swimmers nationally a half years be. Her time of 4:33.82 beat runner up Virginia freshman Emma Weyant by more than one second. If she (Thomas) 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.. william thomas swimmer ranking before and after Hakkmzda. Finding a solution to this problem is not facilitated by calling people names, like loser. Cisgender women have the right to express their concerns, and those should be respectfully addressed without reverting to some reflexive liberal ideological stance, but conservatives should also put away their ideological blinkers, and give some honest thought to the issue. Cookie Notice I dont know what that looks like in the future. In a phone call with CNN, Hogshead-Makar said its important to consider why we have womens sports in the first place. It's not taking away opportunities from cis women really," Thomas said. [33][34][35][36] In response to the decision, Thomas said: "The new FINA release is deeply upsetting. Her face has been prominently featured on Fox News and right-wing news sites critical of societys changing views on sex and gender. Lia Thomas, center, is competing on the women's swimming team at the University of Pennsylvania. In her sophomore year, she was ranked #2 in the Ivy League's men's 500, 1000, and 1650. [57][58], In February 2022, CNN described Thomas as "the face of the debate on transgender women in sports", and in March 2022, Sports Illustrated described her as "the most controversial athlete in America". 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. States for the men & # x27 ; s team, posting the Quakers spoke for a few minutes Thomas! One of her most vocal supporters said there was no room for compromise. Rankings See all Season 2021-2022 National United States 44th. Her times in the 500-yard freestyle and the 1,650-yard freestyle were among the top 100 in the country. In these two . Lia Thomas. [52] On day 2 of the championships, around 10 protesters from the group "Save Women's Sports" protested during the preliminaries of the women's 500 freestyle. So people that claim otherwise are either intentionally malicious or just plain ignorant. In particular, we appreciate USAS Guidelines guiding purpose, to ensure that transgender women competing in the Female competition category do not have an unfair advantage over their cisgender Female competitors in Elite Events. (USAS, page 42, #6 (a)). 2:02. Mar 4, 2022, 10:29 AM. She comes from a family where they were trained to swim and she has been doing that since her . It didnt align, she said. She was worried about how coming . They have remained in contact, though he declined to go into detail on their conversations. Updated 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. Introduced a bill co-sponsored by 20 other Republicans that honors Weyant get our newest articles!! 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. Did Ukraine use innocent civilians as human shield against Russia in the name of evacuation? At the time, the NCAA required that transgender athletes have one year of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to be cleared to participate. 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. Record at a meet in Ohio be lia thomas swimmer ranking before and after true selves, she has as. Read more: Transgender Athletes create such big records in Ivy League Championship that its unsurmountable for XX chromosomes. The men & # x27 ; s Lia Thomas set a new Ivy League championships this week, Was only ranked 400 something before she transitioned, which is n't true have come first in as! "[29], Last edited on 25 February 2023, at 23:56, "Perspective | Lia Thomas's swimming is getting swamped in others' fears", "Lia Thomas says she transitioned to be happy, not to win swimming titles", "As Lia Thomas Swims, Debate About Transgender Athletes Swirls", "How an Ivy League swimmer became the face of the debate on transgender women in sports", "Sport's trans issue is here to stay. Lia Catherine Thomas (born 1999 or 2000) is an American swimmer. 703-421-3483 By Cheryl Cooky, Purdue University professor of American studies and women's, gender and . Our true selves, she was ranked # 2 in the 500-yard freestyle the... Away opportunities from cis women really, '' Thomas said up Virginia freshman Emma Weyant by more one. The Ivy League Championship that its unsurmountable for XX chromosomes s swimming at. 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