Trans Swimmer Lia Thomas Finishes Last in 100-Yard NCAA Freestyle

Transgender swimmer from the University of Pennsylvania Lia Thomas on Saturday finished in last place in the 100-yard freestyle final at the NCAA women's swimming championships in Georgia, even though she entered the finals with the fourth-fastest time and broke the record on Thursday.

Thomas, who just on Thursday caused waves with her victorious time of 4:33.24 in the 500-yard freestyle, is in the crosshairs of the critics of the NCAA's new policy regarding transgender athletes.

USA Swimming said that transgender athletes willing to compete at an elite level undergo at least 36 months of testosterone suppressing. Earlier, NCAA guidelines envisaged only one year of hormone therapy for trans athletes.

The new guidelines are still pending and are scheduled to take effect in March. The NCAA said in a statement that it was not going to change its testosterone requirements, because "implementing additional changes at this time could have unfair and potentially detrimental impacts on schools and student-athletes intending to compete in 2022 NCAA women's swimming championships".

Thomas' case became the focal point of the debate around not just the testosterone guidelines in sports, but the entirety of women's sports and participation of transgender athletes in them. Many critics believe that Thomas and people like her should not be allowed to compete against women because of an "unfair" physical advantage. Others snap back with accusations of transphobia.

Thomas herself insists that she belongs on the women's team, referring to the more than two years of her hormonal therapy, which resulted in her muscles "softening" and her pool times slowing down, as she told The New Yorker. Still, according to the outlet, within two years Thomas was doing "roughly as well against women as she had done before her transition, running against men".

The athlete started her transition in 2019, subsequently switching from the men's team to the women's team after recording the top Penn Men's team times in the 500, 1,000, and 1,650 freestyles when she competed with males during the 2018-2019 season. Then, a COVID-induced break followed, and Thomas entered the 2020-2021 season as part of the women's team.

Yet, that does not sit well with many critics, who believe that Thomas would win in female competitions "not because his skills improved, but because he's stronger and faster than the actual female competitors". According to some reports, many female athletes are afraid to speak out on the issue because they are frightened of being accused of transphobia and kicked off their teams.