So, a lot of people were left asking questions, including Draper. The organization was besieged with calls that it do something, including from Olympians Michael Phelps and Nancy Hogshead-Makar, who raised the temperature of the debate by insinuating that a trans woman competing with cisgender women was akin to doping scandals of the past. The NCAA swimming competitions saw Lia Thomas taking part amidst all the controversy. You may opt-out by. Policy and Terms of Second-placed Manuel finished two seconds behind her with a time of 1:41.45. deck at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on March 17th, 2022 at the Void in ONT. She completed the race in 4:24.06. Which is why Thomass participation feels unfair, even though she is following the rules: It seems to violate the primary purpose of the league. The NCAA announced that its policy would become effective in March, starting with the Division I Womens Swimming and Diving Championships. As of where the rules are at this moment, Im a little uncertain and confused. Lia Thomas controversy surrounds NCAA swimming championships The male/female performance gap appears at puberty in most sports, and quickly becomes so large that most cisgender women would never be able to compete at more elite levels if we werent segregated into our own leagues. A significant gap of 4.3 seconds exists between Franklin and Thomas. Her performance lands her as the 16th fastest female swimmer of all time in this event. She completed the race in 4:24.06. However, Thomas best times while swimming as a male would break both of Ledeckys records and fall fractions of a second behind Franklins. 1 seed finished the 500-yard freestyle with a 4:33.24 and picked up the victory. ", a competitive difference in the male and female categories and the disadvantages this presents in elite head-to-head competition," but, it would be "unfair" and "potentially detrimental on schools and student-athletes intending to compete in 2022 NCAA women's swimming championships" to follow the. Lia Thomas It won't be easy for Lia to break the record of Katie. A major concern for Draper, as mentioned earlier, regards the NCAAs new requirement to test levels of testosterone, a hormone that both men and women naturally have in their bodies, to varying degrees. The very existence of women's sports is tied to the fact that, by biological design, women cannot hold their own while competing with men. Gijy finished his Lia Thomas (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images). All of which is true, and yet if womens sports didnt exist, would we now create them for the purpose of letting women experience the joys of all-female teams? Is banning transgender athletes from women's swimming fair? says a U.S. womens soccer star on this list, along with an NBA executive, an Olympian and two WNBA head coaches. Penn teammate speaks out against transgender swimmer Lia This week, Draper is speaking with CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Lee Cowan as well as with a trans athlete whos a contributor to Outsports, Karleigh Webb, the host of The Trans Sporter Room podcast. Lia Thomas Controversy Changing Colorado Forever. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon As she is far from Franklins record, lets compare her times to the other events she took part in. We can not say anything right now, as we know that both athletes have plenty of capabilities. By protecting one athlete out of fear of backlash, many other athletes have been denied a real shot at the top spot on the podium. 2004-2023 CBS Interactive. Theyre pointing to the fact the she competed pre-transition on the Penn mens team as evidence she doesnt belong on the womens team. has completed her schooling at Don Bosco. In that season, Thomas would have come 12th. But if data is to be considered, Lia Thomas performance isnt so much as extraordinary. But just ignore the shitty language and process the concept: He's still, as a cis man, one of the best in the world. I appreciate the NCAAs attempt to be inclusive of transgender athletes as a whole, but this approach feels very much like they are attempting to be removed from the blame if something goes wrong, Draper told me. This means that Thomas would come first that year as well. Waking up to find out the rules had changed but no one really knew what the new rules are was jarring. She would still be competitive in the men's events without the testosterone, and that's the kind of point that I was trying to make in my article: Especially in the age groups, there is so much variance between ability that just the concept of gender sometimes doesn't make sense.. According to the reports, Lias time is not something out of the box. 6.28.2023 4:00 AM, Jacob Sullum He has flown 23 million miles. FOX News and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Extra-innings heroics and a record-breaking offensive onslaught: Can Florida and LSU top an epic first two games? Thats unheard of coming from the Ivy League, the teammate said. Honorees 21-30: Outsports Power 100, the most influential LGBTQ people in sports. It's great! , "It is a pathetic and misguided state that any argument against Thomas' participation is immediately deemed to be an indication of transphobia." She set a time of 45.56 in 2017. The participation of Thomas, a 22-year-old transgender woman, was held up by some as the beginning of the end of womens sports.. Thomas competed for three years on the mens team prior to And this, in short, is the crux of difference between Thomass advocates and her critics: Biology is unfair. Yes, and womens sports exist to allay that unfairness.. Our stance as a coaching staff is we want our student-athletes to be comfortable and happy in the decisions and choices they make. at an Ivy League swim meet against Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on January 22, 2022. Starting from a list of 250 out LGBTQ people in sports, Outsports has chosen those with the most influence. Penns Lia Thomas blasted the number one 200 free time and the second-fastest 500 free time in the nation on Saturday, breaking Penn program records in both events. I know that it sucked for me to compete as a woman and I'm sure it sucked just as much to compete as a man when you identify as a woman. As many legends competed in the NCAA competitions before, Missy Franklins 200-yard freestyle record is still up there with the best. I am so sorry the world is putting you at the face of this issue and I hope people can finally leave you alone, and talk about this more as an issue of transgender participation, not the world vs. Lia Thomas.. And it's also a symbol that we can both be who we are and do what we love. New York Post. She recently set school records in the 200-meter freestyle and 500-meter freestyle in November. Would we do it to allow trans athletes such as Thomas to compete as their authentic selves? Thomas finished in a blistering four minutes and 33.24 seconds good for 1.75 seconds ahead of Virginia's Emma Weyant, who came in second and just nine Both supporters and protesters of University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas took to the Georgia Tech campus on Thursday ahead of her competing in the 500-yard freestyle competition. Our physicality is so exposed, he said. The separation is a nod to biology." The guidelines themselves suggest that she is allowed to participate because she began the transition more than 2 years ago. Katie Ledecky Thomas finished in a blistering four minutes and 33.24 seconds good for 1.75 seconds ahead of Virginia's Emma Weyant, who came in second and just nine seconds behind Katie Ledecky's record of 4:24.06. On the contrary, Thomas finished her 200-yard freestyle competition, setting atimeof 1:43.40 seconds. The Trans Swimmer Who Won Too Much | The New Yorker As society catches up with the emerging consensus, people will shed their faulty intuitions and recognize that trans women obviously belong in the womens division. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis calls Lia Thomas' NCAA women's Tokyo Olympics 2021: Swimming Fans Await The IOC announced last November that its policy criteria was changing this March. The NCAA championships capped a monthslong controversy surrounding Thomas. Thomas finished 1.75 seconds ahead of second-place Emma Weyant, who attends Virginia. How Far Is Controvesial Transgender Swimmer Lia Thomas From Breaking US Star Katie Ledecky's NCAA Records. Many are of the opinion that Thomas is breaking records and beating the biological women due to her unfair advantage. Her dominance in the pool is incredibly unusual to do from the Ivy League, which has had only one swimmer Cristina Teuscher win a womens NCAA individual title in any event. (Photo by So during the NCAA 500-yard freestyle event, Lia Thomas won the race by setting a time of 4:33.24. By staying largely silent in the public realm, the LGBTQ community and supporters of trans athletes are allowing Right Wing media and other anti-trans forces to dictate the conversation. The NCAAs announcement raised more questions than it answered, due to its contradictory statements. Natalie Dowzicky Have You Fallen For The Mythical Employee Sweet Spot? And I'm afraid that fewer young women will choose to put on their matching swimsuits, goggles, and caps to dive into a cold pool each and every morning, because they lack confidence in what the rules will be when they get to the pinnacle of their careers and whether they will have even a fighting chance at being a champion. has analyzed the 500-yard records of the past 10 years and the best records of the previous season. It sucks for trans women who are getting hate for it, he said. 6.27.2023 5:15 PM, Emma Camp Draper told me hes been very cautious about speaking out about all this, and granting few interviews. In the pool, thats a long time. Katie Ledecky won the Women 1500 Meter Final during the 2021 Toyota US Open Championships at the [+] Greensboro Aquatic Center on December 4, 2021 in Greensboro, NC. Thomas, a student-athlete at the University of Pennsylvania, competed on Penn's men's swimming and diving team for three years. However, her eligibility in the womens swimming competition remains controversial. They have seized on Thomas growing collection of victories and rewriting of some record books as evidence that trans women dont belong in womens sports, that their participation is unfair.. "If we dont fight for our community and ourselves, who will?" But we still get along, and he respects me as a trained individual. One point Draper made clear: he has no beef with his former boss, Swimming World editor-in-chief John Lohn, who published the anti-inclusion op-eds by Blade, Hogshead-Makar, and several of his own, using an Olympic-sized abundance of transphobic terms. - Thomas placed first in the event. It goes back far enough to cover Katie Ledecky's 4m 24.06s record in the 500 yard race and Missy Franklin's 1m 38.10s record in the 200 yard race, both of which still stand today. Most LGBTQ publications and advocates so far seem to be publicly ignoring Thomas incredible athletic accomplishments. Faster than any other Olympian you can think of., The best insights from the ultimate insiders, 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Trans extremists refuse to face facts: Men are stronger than women, Riley Gaines says some violated swimmers undressed in the janitors closet to avoid Lia Thomas, Provocative boxing champ would never fight trans woman, Growing majority of US is against trans athletes competing outside birth gender: Gallup poll. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. The stark fact of biological advantage is as true of the distinctions between elite womens swimmers as it is of the divide between them and the rest of us. Fierce Debate In the 2016-2017 season, Thomas's 2021-2022 time would have ranked her 12th. Yet ponder them long enough and you eventually realize that only one of them supports the case its proponents are trying to make. Amidst the controversy, Lia Thomas has set quite a few swimming records in the NCAA championship. Opinion | The key question raised by Lia Thomass swimming "I try to focus on my swimming, what I need to do to get ready for my races. Tables Are Completely Turned Now: Former Olympian Makes a Huge Prediction on (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Spo. For that matter, the NCAA also should be out front on this, explaining exactly what their trans-inclusion policy is and making it clear that Thomas has met the criteria. Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. And the season has only gotten started Her times will continue to drop. (Photo by Mike Comer/NCAA Photos via Getty Images). Thomas set no pool, meet or American records during the meet. The NCAA has acknowledged "a competitive difference in the male and female categories and the disadvantages this presents in elite head-to-head competition," but determined it would be "unfair" and "potentially detrimental on schools and student-athletes intending to compete in 2022 NCAA women's swimming championships" to follow the new standards (which Thomas would have failed to meet). This article was published more than1 year ago. Yet ultimately, out of the Many athletes take "trust the process" as a mantra, but there's a sense in collegiate swimming that the process has broken down. Lia Thomas finishes 8th in 100-yard freestyle, final race of Ledeckys record time is 4:24.06 and there is a gap of 9.18 ", Information from ESPN's Katie Barnes and The Associated Press was used in this report, DeSantis: Transgender swimmer's title 'a fraud', Geauxmaha: LSU a fitting champion following the greatest MCWS ever, 2023 MCWS rewind: LSU wins first title since 2009, How a Jell-O shot challenge became the second-biggest event in Omaha, Omaha's Mardi Gras: LSU fans have made the MCWS their second home, Tide baseball's Vaughn to make $900K annually, Athletes can nix NLI under certain circumstances, New NCAA guidelines conflict with states over NIL, Tennessee standout reliever Burns enters portal, 'We're champions, baby': LSU wins MCWS in rout, Iowa star Clark adds Honda Cup to accolades, Gators score MCWS-record 24 runs, extend finals. Tonight, Thomas won the 500-yard freestyle event with a time of 4:33.24, a full two and a half seconds ahead of the second place finisher. Basically, being a straight white cis man is the very minority of this campus., We are very proud of Lucas and everything he has done for our program, shedding light on the experience of being a transgender student-athlete, Head Swimming & Diving Coach Alex de la Pea told me. capacity. Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images. For years Ive heard trans advocates quietly hope trans women do well in sports, but not too well. What Rank Did Lia Thomas Stand at While Competing in the Mens Swimming Division? But when Lia Thomas stepped up on the block for what ended up being a gold medal-winning performance, I couldn't help but notice how the competitors in the lanes beside her, who trained just as hard and just as long, looked defeated even before the starter said, "take your mark." But, Franklin kept pace throughout the race and finished the race at a, of 1:39.10. Outkick. WebPrinceton 221-Cornell 78. Olympic Team Swimming Trials at CenturyLink Center on July 2, 2016 in Omaha, Nebraska. Lia Thomas Some of these LGBTQ advocates now want to eliminate that requirement all together, so trans women can compete in womens sports with no medical transition at all. He never heard from Thomas, but others took notice. Katie Ledecky, the NCAA record-holder in the 500, is simply more gifted than everyone who swam in the finals last Thursday, including Thomas, who fell nine seconds short of Ledeckys 2017 finish. On the contrary, Thomas finished her 200-yard freestyle competition, setting a. of 1:43.40 seconds. In that case, it's pure physics that rigs the game for Lia Thomas. "The fact that she's able to show up here, despite protesters outside, people shouting and booing her, I think it's a testament to her resiliency. OMAHA, NEBRASKA JUNE 15: Katie Ledecky of the United States reacts after competing in a preliminary heat for the Womens 1500m freestyle during Day Three of the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team Swimming Trials at CHI Health Center on June 15, 2021 in Omaha, Nebraska. And Thomas has been brave in the face of significant vitriol for competing in a sport where the ruling body has declared her eligible. Given the current focus on transgender women, do I as a transgender man need to submit testosterone levels as frequently? This is essentially the logic of comparing Thomas to Jackie Robinson breaking baseballs color barrier. Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/KS/LA (select parishes)/MA/MD/MI/NH/NJ/NY/OH/OR/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Sure, we might argue, biology is one reason sports are separate, but winning isnt the only purpose of sport; it also teaches teamwork, self-discipline and important social values such as inclusion. This past weekend, the record-breaking stretch continued, as Thomas set a school record in the 1650-meter freestyle. March 22, 2022 10:39 pm EDT. While she is quickest amongst the swimmers competing against her, she is still behind the Olympic champion Katie Ledecky by some seconds. Lia Thomas "We filed a formal civil rights complaint against UPenn in response to this injustice.". I've tried to calculate how much total time I spent swimming or training, and it's in the ballpark of 21,900 hours2 and a half years of my life. An athlete's success largely hinges on whether or not she has talentboth raw and earned. On paper, if Lia Thomas gets back down to Will Thomas best times, those numbers are female world records. Official Psych Sheets Live Results Live Video (ESPN3): Swimming / Diving Thursday morning heat sheets Reported by Anne Lepesant. As much as we debate her performance, in truth, she struggles to compare with many 500 yard records over the past years. Originally from Australia, theres one other thing that sets him apart at Oberlin: Hes transgender. 1 to the Pirates? I found the same silence when I tried to talk to trans advocates and league executives in the Premier Hockey Federation formerly the National Womens Hockey League about its new trans policy dropping all transition requirements (other than a yet-to-be-explained two-year waiting period) for trans and nonbinary athletes. An anonymous teammate of Thomas spoke to the website OutKick, claiming most members of the team have expressed displeasure over the situation to their coach, Mike Schnur. Thomas' success is causing a crisis of confidence in women's sports, which have long been a source of pride for elite female athletes despite the fact that they knew they couldn't compete on equal footing with men. Brooke Forde, who won a silver medal at the Olympics in Tokyo over the summer in the 4x200-meter freestyle, raced for Stanford and finished in fourth with a 4:36.18. Thus, where does that performance rank, compared to Lia Thomas 200-yard freestyle event? Hence, Thomas is way off when compared with Ledeckys times. Piers Morgan mischaracterized her time on the mens team as unsuccessful (she finished second in multiple Ivy League Championship events her sophomore year). 6.28.2023 12:01 AM, Eric Boehm She met that goal on the campus of Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Thursday evening. This is 10 seconds faster than Lia Thomas. Ledecky and Titmus squared off in an exhilarating race that saw Titmus finishing first, ahead of Ledecky. Transgender woman Lia Thomas (L) of the University of Pennsylvania stands on the podium after winning the 500-yard freestyle as other medalists (L-R) Emma Weyant, Erica Sullivan and Brooke Forde pose for a photo at the NCAA Division I Women's Swimmin, USA Swimming updated its policy shortly after requiring transgender athletes who are competing at an elite level to have small levels of testosterone half of what Thomas was allowed to compete with for at least 36 months before being eligible, but the NCAA said weeks later that the Administrative Subcommittee of the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (CMAS) decided that it wouldnt alter its testosterone guidance, stating 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.". This is a BETA experience. It's just such a complicated issue, Draper told me, when asked about University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, and her success competing as a woman. Olympian Katie Ledecky swam the fastest time ever recorded in the women's 500-yard freestyle at 4:24.06, which stands as the current NCAA, American, Odds and lines subject to change. Thomas set no pool, meet or American records That said, Oberlin has been a very welcoming place to transition, Draper said, from teammates to classmates to coaches. Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle frames it best: "We didn't create separate leagues to reinforce the special feminine identity of female athletes; if anything, women's athletics was supposed to break down such divisions. (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire DKB/Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire/Newscom), Thomas, a student-athlete at the University of Pennsylvania, competed on Penn's men's swimming and diving team for three years. 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And it's even better to consider if Katie Ledecky came out as trans masc, and wanted to compete in men's events. And that's the thing that you're taught at the very beginning. Protesters and supporters were outside the McAuley Aquatic Center on the Georgia Tech campus before the meet. She has followed NCAA and Ivy League rules since she began her transition in 2019 by starting hormone replacement therapy. Katie currently holds the world record in womens 500-yard freestyle at 4:24.06 seconds on the clock. Trans Swimmer Lia Thomas Beats 2 Olympic Medalists to Hes been getting requests ever since he took a public stand in support of Thomas. One of Drapers biggest fears right now is what sporting organizations will do to fill the vacuum created by the NCAA passing the buck to national governing bodies, like USA Swimming, and the storm of criticism that the NCAA is, in the words of Swimming World Magazine editor-in-chief John Lohn, turning its back on womens sports., I also fear that with this backlash, governing agencies are going to issue a knee-jerk change to the policy that is overly limiting and unfair to transgender athletes, in an attempt to get out of the spotlight, he said.