Lia Thomas, a record-setting transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer, addressed the controversy around the participation of a male swimmer on the women’s swim team, saying in a newly published interview, “I’m a woman, just like anybody else on the team.”
Thomas, who competed on Penn’s mens team for three years, has ruffled feathers this season as the swimmer set pool, school, and Ivy League records. Critics have pointed out that Thomas has an unfair biological advantage from years of competing as a man.
One Penn parent told Sports Illustrated that while “Lia is a human being who deserves to be treated with respect and dignity,” that it is “not transphobic to say I disagree with where she’s swimming.”
Thomas told the magazine that argument is disingenuous: “The very simple answer is that I’m not a man.”
“I’m a woman, so I belong on the women’s team. Trans people deserve that same respect every other athlete gets,” Thomas said.
Thomas, who had previously only spoken publicly to swimming-news website SwimSwam, claims swimming is not about winning or setting records: “I get into the water every day and do my best.”
Thomas also denied media reports that Thomas has an attitude, including that the swimmer jokes about how easy it is to win races, that Thomas purposely swam slowly at a meet against Iszac Henig, a trans man who swims on Yale’s women’s team; and that Thomas is the self-proclaimed “Jackie Robinson of trans sports.”
Of 37 swimmers on the team, sources told Sports Illustrated that six to eight of the swimmers are adamant supporters of Thomas while half the team opposes Thomas competing against women and the rest have disengaged from the debate.
The report says Penn swim parents sent a December 5 letter to the NCAA asking Thomas be ruled ineligible for women’s competitions.
“At stake here is the integrity of women’s sports,” the parents wrote in the letter to Penn and the Ivy League. “The precedent being set—one in which women do not have a protected and equitable space to compete—is a direct threat to female athletes in every sport. What are the boundaries? How is this in line with the NCAA’s commitment to providing a fair environment for student-athletes?”
While the parents received no response from the NCAA, Penn athletic director Alanna Shanahan sent a message to the team saying the school fully supports all of its swimming student-athletes and wants to “help our community navigate Lia’s success in the pool this winter.” Shanahan suggested that upset swimmers should “utilize robust resources available to them,” including the university’s department of Counseling and Psychological Services.
Thomas’s role on the team has been a source of tension among the swimmers; at least two Penn swimmers who support Thomas confronted a teammate at practice, claiming she was spreading rumors, according to the report.
“These women no longer trust one another,” one parent told Sports Illustrated. “Everything has fallen apart.”
Thomas told the magazine about having questions around personal identity during the end of high school. Thomas was later paired with a “trans mentor” through a group on Penn’s campus.
The swimmer began hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in May 2019.
“I did HRT knowing and accepting I might not swim again,” Thomas said. “I was just trying to live my life.”
However, Thomas reportedly described realizing a personal need to continue competitive swimming but as the swimmer’s “authentic self” on the women’s team.
Now, Thomas is preparing to swim at the NCAA Women’s Division I Swimming and Diving Championships, beginning March 16 in Atlanta. Thomas is a favorite to win individual titles in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events, according to the report. The swimmer could even break collegiate records set by Olympians Katie Ledecky and Missy Franklin.
While the swimmer expressed a desire to “show trans kids and younger trans athletes that they’re not alone” and that “they don’t have to choose between who they are and the sport they love,” Thomas’s accolades appear to be making some young swimmers nervous. USA Swimming has received calls from parents of youth swimmers who are concerned the next Thomas may take over their pool, according to Sports Illustrated.
Thomas has applied to law school and is considering a career in civil rights law to advocate for others who are “marginalized,” according to the report. Thomas wants to continue swimming in law school, with sights set on swimming at the 2024 Olympic trials.
As long as Thomas meets the criteria to swim in the women’s category, USA Swimming told Sports Illustrated they have no issues with Thomas representing the U.S. in 2024.
Source: National Review
