The female transgender from The University of Pennsylvania, Lia Thomas, lost her third race after winning her first and second race in the women’s Ivy League and shattering women’s records. Before the race even started, Thomas was the center of attention having gained a lot of online critics.
Thomas won her first two races easily against her competitors from Yale and Dartmouth and won the women’s 200 and 500 yards freestyle events. She also holds the NCAA’s best times this year at both distances. Previously, Thomas also competed in the men’s division for three years.
However, her third race in the 100 yards had surprising results – albeit ironic.
She lost to a fellow transgender swimmer, Izzi Henig from Yale. Henig is a swimmer who’s transitioning from female to male. Henig continues to swim on the women’s team even though he identifies as a male. This is guaranteed to brings controversy and a lot of people demand the NCAA to review the race again.
“I wasn’t prepared for that. Everything is messed up. I can’t wrap my head around this. The NCAA needs to do something about this. They need to put science into the decision and discussion,” said a Penn swim parent.
According to the NCAA website, Thomas holds the 95th best time at 49:42 while Henig has the 10th best time at 48:03 in the women’s 100.