Out Trans Swimmer Lia Thomas Wins 1 of 3 NCAA Championship Freestyle Races; Fellow Swimmers Show Support As She Finishes Collegiate Career
towleroad.comA post shared by Penn Athletics (@pennathletics)“It means the world to be here, to be with my best friends and teammates and be able to compete,” Thomas told ESPN after her win.
Thomas joins former Franklin Pierce runner CeCe Telfer as the only out trans athletes to win an NCAA championship across all divisions.The historic victory comes as Thomas remains a reluctant focus of transphobic arguments and efforts aimed at limiting the participation of trans women in women’s sports.
Thomas lept into the wider consciousness of the public in December 2021 when she won a race by 38 seconds at the Zippy Invitational, earning her spot in the NCAA Championships.
That record-setting performance started a four-month period of criticism from conservative media outlets, organizations claiming a desire to preserve women’s sports and parents of her Penn teammates arguing that she shouldn’t be allowed to compete alongside cisgender women.Those attitudes were present on the Georgia Tech campus as Thomas made history on Thursday.
