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GayCityNews.com | MARCH 24 - APRIL 7, 2022
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Founding Member
Lia Thomas Wins National Championship
BY MATT TRACY
University of Pennsylvania
swimmer Lia Thomas emerged
victorious in the 500-yard freestyle
championship at Georgia
Tech on March 17, becoming the first out
trans athlete to secure a Division I national
title.
Thomas finished in four minutes and
33.24 seconds — her best time of the
season — but it was no breeze. Thomas
fell behind the competition in the early
part of the race, but managed to claw
back and catch up to Emma Weyant of
Virginia. Thomas pulled away in the final
stretch to secure the win.
“It means the world to be here,” Thomas
said to ESPN’s Elizabeth Beisel following
the competition.
On March 18, Thomas qualified for
another final at the NCAA Championships
when she landed the second seed
for the 200-yard freestyle race slated to
take place on March 18, but she finished
in fifth place.
Thomas’ historic feat represented a
significant step forward for trans representation
in college sports at a time when
conservatives have ramped up discriminatory
legislation aiming to kick trans
student-athletes off playing fields in numerous
states across the nation.
The political attacks on trans Americans
have coincided with the marginalization
of trans student-athletes. Conservatives,
backed by right-wing news outlets,
have fueled narratives that trans girls
and women are impeding on the rights
of cisgender athletes — and Thomas has
been at the center of attention, even as
she has abided by the rules for her competitions.
Notably, Thomas has also lost
races, further shattering the notion that
she has an unfair advantage in the pool.
The raging debate over trans inclusion
in sports has appeared to target Thomas
in a manner that has resembled the treatment
of out lesbian South African Olympic
runner Caster Semenya, who was
effectively pushed away from competing
after enduring years of invasive sex testing
and legal battles over rule changes
that were clearly designed to restrict her
ability to compete.
New, controversial NCAA rules unveiled
in January called on individual
sports to follow national governing bodies
when determining rules for trans inclusion
— and USA Swimming’s new policy
stipulated that trans athletes should
have to follow specific testosterone limits
for three full years before competing.
That was a significant departure from
the one-year testosterone limitation previously
imposed on college athletes and
would have created barriers t0 Thomas’
future participation. In the face of widespread
pressure, the NCAA in February
at least temporarily backtracked and allowed
Thomas to participate under the
previous rules.
That, however, did not stop a group
called Concerned Women for America from
moving ahead with a Title IX complaint
on March 17 alleging that the University
of Pennsylvania is “refusing to protect the
rights of college female athletes” by allowing
Thomas to participate. Despite the suit,
out swimmer Erica Sullivan, who faced
Thomas on March 17, wrote an op-ed in
Newsweek defending her rival.
“Like anyone else in this sport, Lia
has trained diligently to get to where she
is and has followed all of the rules and
guidelines put before her,” Sullivan noted.
“Like anyone else in this sport, Lia doesn’t
win every time. And when she does, she
deserves, like anyone else in this sport, to
be celebrated for her hard-won success,
not labeled a cheater simply because of
her identity.”
Out trans athlete and coach Chris
Mosier also expressed an affirming message
for Thomas on Twiter.
“Lia Thomas met every requirement;
she was in full compliance with every rule
that the organization in charge of making
rules had in place,” Thomas wrote. “But
instead of celebrating her victory, you’ll
see countless articles about the “debate”
on her participation…”
Notably, Thomas is not the first out
trans athlete to win an NCAA championship.
Franklin Pierce University track
and field athlete CeCé Telfer won a national
title in the 2019 400-meter competition
in Division II.
S P OR T S
Brett Davis
Mar 18, 2022; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Penn Quakers swimmer Lia Thomas swims the 200 free at the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships at Georgia Tech.
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