The trans swimmer who destroyed girl’s hopes of going pro by breaking several all-women league records is back and fighting the facts. According to Thomas, trans people are not a threat to women’s sports Lia Thomas said during an ABC News and ESPN interview that aired Tuesday.
“Trans women are a very small minority of all athletes,” Thomas, who competed in women’s swimming during his time at the University of Pennsylvania, added. “The NCAA rules regarding trans women competing in women’s sports have been around for 10-plus years. And we haven’t seen any massive wave of trans women dominating.”
Thomas, a biological male, competed on the University of Pennsylvania men’s team for three years before identifying as female and transitioning to the women’s team.
Thomas, who began hormone replacement therapy in May 2019, told ABC News, “What kept me from transitioning for so long is I wasn’t sure if I could continue swimming.” NCAA guidelines allowed Thomas to compete after just one year of hormone replacement therapy.
“I knew there would be scrutiny against me if I competed as a woman and I was prepared for that,” Thomas said.
One, Dr. Michael Joyner of the Mayo Clinic, told ABC News that a slew of advantages — including “body size, airway size, hand size, foot size, perhaps bone density” — would remain even after years of hormone therapy for trans athletes.
Thomas suggested that such criticism was unfair given the differences found in all athletes.
“I’m not a medical expert, but there’s a lot of variation among cis female athletes,” Thomas said, referring to the term “cisgender,” describing people who identify with their actual biological gender.
Thomas was mediocre at swimming while he competed against other men, as a man, but on the women’s team je was a