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Lia Thomas has been making headlines since coming out as a transgender athlete. Although a community of athletes has come out in support of her, many have criticized her for competing in the female category and blocking the titles from them.
In a recent interview with ALLOD Sports correspondent Skip Tetheludah, NCAA Champion Thomas came out saying she had achieved all her goals and now wishes to return as a male.
"I've accomplished my goals. I think I did all I set out to do. I won first place in the 500 and I dated a man as a woman. I think I’ve reached the end of this journey."
According to Lia Thomas, she has achieved all the milestones as a female swimmer and her journey has come to an end.
She recalled an event in which a female swimmer tied her for the fifth position for 200 yards. She even felt guilty about blocking the titles from female swimmers.
Dr. Joe Barron backed Thomas' decision and urged people to show some support and kindness for her. He shared that for Thomas to turn back to male, she had to stop the intake of estrogen and might require a sock stuffer.
Lia Thomas' personal records
Thomas won the 2022 NCAA Women of the Year Award. Her shift to the female category has been quite controversial. However, she made several personal records both as a female and male swimmer.
Thomas' personal best as a female swimmer:
- 100 Freestyle - 47.37 - 2022 NCAA Division I Women's Championship
- 200 Freestyle - 1:41.93 - 2021 Zippy Invite
- 400 Freestyle Relay team - 2:01.41 - 2022 team (Thomas, Kaczorowski, Kannan, Carter)
- 500 Freestyle - 4:33.24 - 2022 NCAA Division I Women's Championship
- 800 Freestyle Relay team - 4:16.14 - 2022 team (Thomas, Kaczorowski, Kannan, Carter)
- 1000 Freestyle - 9:35.96 - 2021 Zippy Invite
- 1650 Freestyle - 15:59.71 - 2021 Zippy Invite
Thomas' personal best as a male swimmer
- 1000 FR - 8:57.55 - 2018 Ivy League Championships
- 1650 FR - 14:59.19 - 2018 Ivy League Championships
- 500 FR - 4:18.72 - 2019 Ivy League Championships
- 1000 FR - 8:55.75 - 2019 Ivy League Championships
- 1650 FR - 14:54.76 - 2019 Ivy League Championships
Lia Thomas' life and career
Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas was born in 1999 in Austin, Texas. She is one of two siblings. Her initial career achievement was being sixth in the high school swimming championships in the state when she was enrolled in Westlake High School.
She enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania in 2017. After competing in the male category for three years, she started her hormone replacement therapy in 2019. Later in the 2020-21 season, she started competing in the women's category.
Due to testosterone suppression and hormone replacement therapy, Lia Thomas lost enough muscle mass and weight. When she competed at UPenn's Ivy League rival Yale in January 2022, she lost to four cisgender women, including Iszac Henig. Later in March 2022, Thomas became the first ever open transgender athlete to win the NCAA Division I national championship in any sport.
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