Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas has been a huge topic of interest for everyone that cares about sports. The swimmer used to compete in the men’s division with mixed results but is now breaking records left and right.
The latest victory brought Thomas an NCAA title for her victory in women’s 500 yard swim. Thomas defeated Virginia freshman Emma Weyant by 1.75 seconds with a time of 4:33:24. There’s approximately a second of difference between Weyant and second runner up.
While Thomas has followed all NCAA rules, many believe the rules are not adequate, giving transgender athletes an unfair advantage.
“I tried to focus on my swimming and block out everything else. It means the world to be here and be able to compete,” Thomas said in the post-race interview on deck.
Many were crushed for the 2nd place finisher considering this is her last year competing.
16 student athletes at the University of Pennsylvania showed their support for the new updated policies regarding transgender swimmers. The new policies were issued by USA Swimming after a long controversy regarding Lia Thomas’ participation in the women’s Ivy League.
The new policy stated that ‘the testosterone level should be less than 5 nanomoles per liter continuously for at least 36 months and the transgender athletes are required to provide the evidence.