Viral
Trans UPenn Swimmer, 22, Sparks ‘Claim Of Unfairness’ After Winning TWO US Women’s Record
Many have refused to refer to her as a WOMAN.
Over the weekend, Lia Thomas displayed an incredible performance at the Zippy Invitational Event in Ohio. The contest saw her finish the 1650-yard freestyle thirty-eight seconds ahead of her teammate, Anna Sofia Kalandaze. Thomas’s winning time was 15:59:71, while Sofia’s time [ she came second] was at 16:37:44.
Swimmer Thomas, who previously competed as a man, has sparked outrage about fairness in women’s sports.
The outrage emerged after the transgender smashed records over the weekend, including a 7-second victory in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:41.93.
The 22-Year-Old also smashed two US women’s swimming records during earlier races at the same event. The first record was broken on Friday, Dec. 3rd, when Thomas won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:34:06. She had raced to victory 14 seconds ahead of Sofia, who was beaten by thirty-eight seconds.
Also, in the 1650-yard freestyle, Thomas finished the race over 38 seconds ahead of teammate Anna Kalandadze.
Before transitioning, Thomas had competed for three seasons at Penn as a man named Will.
Then again, on Saturday, Thomas won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:41:93, seven seconds ahead of her nearest rival. This is the first season the trans swimmer and senior at the University of Pennsylvania, formerly known as Will, has competed in the swimming meets as a transgender woman. When she was Will, Thomas had competed on the men’s team for two full seasons.
In high school, Thomas pictured in 2016 and 2017, respectively was a star swimmer.
While the winning results have since met with The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) standard, it has also sparked claims of unfairness online. Critics have claimed that trans females have considerable advantages over their cisgender female rivals due to height. And due to weight advantages too, they may retain even after hormone treatment.
The NCAA rules require at least one year of testosterone treatment to compete in women’s events.
Thomas is a senior at the University of Pennsylvania.
“This should outrage every person who’s ever advocated for women’s in athletics.” One person wrote. Another added: “A disgrace for all the hard-working female swimmers.” Sports performance coach Linda Blade also reacted, saying: “Well, of course, women’s records are being smashed! Lia competed as a male for the first three years in #NCAA. This is not right! We need to return to #SexBasedSports! #SexNotGender to preserve fairness for female athletes.”
The swimmer pictured recently will represent the Quakers on Jan. 8 against Dartmouth at the Sheerr Pool.
Thomas pictured right and with a friend [left] has revealed it’s rewarding to continue the sport.
Another asked: “How many people were involved in this swim meet, and not one of them stood up and said this was wrong? A fourth was outraged that his daughters, who swim competitively, have worked their a**es off to get to where they are for Thomas to dominate the sport. Some people pointed out the swimmer’s chosen name and said she should add the “r,” while others refused to reference her as a female.
IOC is set to change its rules that trans women would no longer reduce their testosterone levels to compete.
However, Thomas will automatically compete in the National Championship meet in Atlanta next March. On the other hand, it remains unknown when she started transitioning. Still, NCCA rules had stated she had to have completed one year of testosterone suppression treatment to compete at the contest. Thomas’s last known men’s event had happened on November 16th, 2019.
Many have voiced their anger at NCAA and Thomas for competing in women’s swimming.
And as expected, some congratulated the student-athlete for his winnings.
