Lia Thomas is a fifth-year senior, transgender woman, and swimmer for the University of Pennsylvania. Thomas has been swimming since the age of 5 and was one of the top swimmers in Texas when she was in high school. Thomas swam on Penn’s men’s team for three seasons before coming out as trans in mid-2018. She began taking testosterone suppressants and estrogen in May 2019. This year Thomas made history as the first known transgender athlete to win a Division I national championship in any sport. Thomas won an NCAA championship in the 500-yard freestyle, finishing 1.75 seconds ahead of second-place Emma Weyant. Weyant is a University of Virginia freshman and U.S. Olympian. She placed second to Thomas with a time of 4:34.99.

Lia Thomas’s win brought praise as well as criticism. Thomas is at the center of a national debate on transgender athletes’ rights to participate in competitive sports. Those against Thomas’s win say that her male-at-birth assignment gives her an unfair biological advantage. Elite male athletes, on average, have significant physical advantages over elite female athletes. People who went through testosterone-driven puberty have increased cardiovascular ability, greater muscule mass, tendon mechanical strength, and denser bones. They also have greater wingspans and are stronger and taller. Her supporters say that because Thomas has followed all NCAA eligibility protocols, she has a right to compete. However, House Bill 500 was signed into law by Idaho Governor Brad Little. The law states that “biological differences between females and males, especially as it relates to natural levels of testosterone,” create unfair athletic advantages.

Brittany Weiss is a competitive swimmer who swam at a D1 level at Liberty University says, “When you win a race and get a medal, it is a true honor and a reflection of the hard work and the time that was put in to achieve that accomplishment.” Weiss has competitively swam for 17 years, from the age of 5 to 22. Weiss says she would be “pissed” if she lost a race to Lia Thomas. She goes on to say, “ Lia Thomas is a biological male, and to be competing against biological females is cheating and is taking away the validity of female athletics… to have any award taken away from me because I had to race against a male would be devastating.” NCAA won’t adopt USA swimming guidelines for transgender participation. “The subcommittee decided that 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,” the NCAA wrote in a press release. NCAA Board of Governors approved updates to the NCAA transgender student-athlete participation policy, which aligns participation with the Olympic movement.

A student-athlete at Pennridge High School, Maddie Flood, describes Lia Thomas’s win as “grossly unfair”. When asked if she would be okay competing against the opposite gender she says, “It depends. If I know the person is transgender, then that’s a different story but if you’re up for a challenge I don’t think it’s wrong.” Many people that are in support of Lia Thomas and her victory say since she identifies as a woman, she should be able to compete against female athletes.

Lia Thomas’s victory is still in the spotlight of the athletic community and beyond. Her success has continued to spark debate over transgender competitive athletes. The spotlight is on whether Thomas’s placement was fair to her competitors. Overall there are two outlooks, those who will always feel that Thomas’s win is unfair, while others view it as healthy competition. The decision to which division transgender athletes should be placed in will no doubt be a heated topic of conversation amongst supporters and those who oppose it.