Lia Thomas Made Her Ivy League Championships Debut Today
Pennsylvania women’s swimmer Lia Thomas made her debut at the Ivy League Championships on Wednesday.
Thomas, a transgender woman, led off for the Quakers in the 800m freestyle relay. She finished her leg in first place, 0.15 seconds ahead of Yale’s Iszac Henig, a transgender man.
While Penn was in first place when Thomas got out of the pool, the relay team finished in third place, trailing Harvard and Yale.
Thomas was ruled eligible to compete in the Ivy League Championships this year.
@katie_barnes3 joins us on @OTLonESPN to talk about the national discussion sparked by University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas. Thomas is a trans woman and her performance in the pool has led to a debate about fairness and the inclusion of trans athletes. pic.twitter.com/jmf1n8FcSa
— John Barr ESPN (@JohnBarrESPN) February 16, 2022
Thomas has been dominating in the pool this year. The former men’s team swimmer has generated a larger discussion about transgender athletes in sports.
Earlier this year, more than 300 athletes signed a letter showing their support for Thomas and her right to compete.
Breaking for @SInow: More than 300 collegiate and elite swimmers and divers signed an @AthleteAlly and @sb_pinkmantaray letter to the NCAA in support of Lia Thomas’s right to compete https://t.co/vtjuo8HNTj
— Julie Kliegman (@jmkliegman) February 10, 2022
As ESPN.com notes, the current landscape is murky:
The rules governing transgender athletes’ participation on the collegiate level have been murky since Jan. 19, when the NCAA announced a policy change. Revising its 2010 policy that applied to all sports, the NCAA opted to adopt each sport’s national governing body policy, allowing for varying policies by sport. Though USA Swimming announced a new policy for transgender athletes on Feb. 1, the NCAA announced last week that it would not be using that policy for next month’s women’s swimming and diving championships at Georgia Tech.
Thomas is scheduled to have a busy week.
Two trans swimmers take relay medals at Ivy League Championships.https://t.co/h5ar7Vu4FY
— Outsports (@outsports) February 17, 2022
Thomas is set to compete in the the 500-yard freestyle (Thursday), 200-yard freestyle (Friday), and 1,650-yard freestyle (Saturday).
The Penn swimmer has already locked up a spot in the NCAA Championships.
Harvard and Yale are Penn’s biggest competition at the Ivy League Championships.
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