In Panel Discussion, Lia Thomas Expresses ‘Grief Over Losing Access to My Sport’
Former Penn swimmer Lia Thomas described feeling “devastated” over the inability to compete in swimming in rare public remarks this weekend.
Thomas, who has generally kept a low public profile in the media relative to the furor that has been raised in her name, spoke last weekend at the Trans Youth Forum hosted by HiTOPS, a nonprofit based in New Jersey. She participated in an hourlong moderated panel discussion, describing her journey through swimming and her gender transition in college after a youth spent growing up in Texas. Her comments were reported by the Daily Pennsylvanian, Penn’s student newspaper.
Thomas advocated for an “athlete-driven” avenue toward identification for competition purposes.
“It has to be the athletes deciding for themselves where they feel most affirmed and most comfortable,” she said. “Having routes that are safe and non-discriminatory, that allow them access to that.”
Thomas competed for Penn’s men’s swimming team before transitioning genders. She competed in women’s competition in 2022, winning a national championship in the 500 free. Her presence led to changes in athlete classification by a number of governing bodies, including World Aquatics and the NCAA. World Aquatics created a separate open category for transgender swimmers, though it got little traction and no entries at its first World Cup appearance.
Thomas lost a legal challenge of World Aquatics’ rule banning athletes who have undergone a male puberty from competing in women’s events.
“I felt so devastated and grief over losing this access to my sport,” Thomas said. “There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to fight this, that this is my sport too, and I’m not just going to give it up to trans folks.”
Thomas, who has remained an active advocate for the trans community, described her process in 2022, when she began posting nationally relevant times, of dissecting the NCAA policy on transgender athlete participation to see if competing was possible. It was a measured decision to compete that season, especially amid the growing backlash. Thomas did it in part to give visibility to the trans community and in part because she was following her love of the sport.
“I didn’t want to swim. I just wanted to step away and be able to transition and be myself,” she said. “But my love of swimming kept me going. … When I had transitioned, I felt more comfortable, and I said, ‘I can do this. I could do both.’”
Her presence remains a hobby horse of politicians in media, with the Trump administration last month freezing more than $175 million in funding to Penn because the university allowed Thomas to compete. President Trump also signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports in February, which led to the NCAA bending its policy to adhere to the new guidance.
