Lia Thomas

Lia Thomas, who became the first transgender athlete to win a Division I national championship Thursday, has qualified second for the Friday night final in ...

"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. Yellow barriers lined the sidewalk and additional security was present. And he stole a place from multiple women. 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." Thomas became the first transgender athlete to win a Division I national championship Thursday when she captured the 500 freestyle. Like anyone else in this sport, Lia doesn't win every time.

With her victory in Atlanta, Thomas, who competes for the University of Pennsylvania, became the first openly transgender woman to win an N.C.A.A. swimming ...

Emma Weyant, a freshman at the University of Virginia, soon emerged as the closest challenger. Weyant, who earned a silver medal at the Tokyo Games in the 400-meter individual medley, finished 1.75 seconds after Thomas. By then, though, the Ivy League had said it welcomed Thomas, who in 2019 came out to her team and began hormone replacement therapy, as a competitor in women’s swimming. On Thursday evening in Atlanta, she refused to participate in the news conference that the N.C.A.A. requires of its champions. Most of the changes occur within the first year of hormone suppression, but transgender women may still have more muscle mass than their cisgender peers even after three years. Comprehensive research in athletes is still lacking, but early studies suggest that suppressing testosterone in transgender women decreases muscle mass and hemoglobin levels, reducing how much oxygen can be carried through the bloodstream. The N.C.A.A., though, ultimately decided not to let those more stringent protocols take effect this season, reasoning that “implementing additional changes at this time could have unfair and potentially detrimental impacts” on championship participants. The N.C.A.A. would not make President Mark Emmert available for an interview. Thomas, a new champion, received only polite applause. But it intensified as Thomas posted times that left opponents far behind and put some collegiate records under new pressure. I am here to swim.” The issue, which on Thursday drew a handful of demonstrators to the Georgia Tech complex that hosted the championships, had long buffeted the college sports industry.

University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas became the first trans woman to win an NCAA swimming competition in Division I on Thursday.

However, she faced scrutiny inside and outside the sport about if transgender women and girls should be allowed to participate in female sports. “I didn’t have a whole lot of expectation for this meet,” Thomas said. The race was close until the last 100 yards with Virginia’s Emma Weyant finishing second at 4:34.99.