University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas made history Thursday as the first openly transgender person to win a Division I national championship.
Thomas, a senior on the women’s swim team, finished the 500-yard freestyle at the front of the pack in 4 minutes, 33.24 seconds at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta.
“It means the world to be here,” Thomas said in an interview after the win.
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Thomas competed against University of Virginia freshman Emma Weyant, University of Texas freshman Erica Sullivan, and Stanford University senior Brooke Forde. Thomas ended up finishing 1.75 seconds ahead of second-place Weyant.
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Lia Thomas wins the 500 free at the NCAA Championships.
Click the link to read about our day in Atlanta ⤵️
? https://t.co/Ti2L5ej9Pz#FightOnPenn pic.twitter.com/1CsULwyWtL
— Penn Swimming & Diving (@PennSwimDive) March 17, 2022
While competing at the Ivy League Championships in February, Thomas set a new record for the 500-yard freestyle, finishing in 4 minutes, 37:32 seconds in Harvard University‘s Blodgett Pool.
“It’s a symbol of Lia’s resilience,” said former Harvard swimmer Schuyler Bailar, the first trans athlete to compete on an NCAA DI men’s team, according to ESPN. “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,” Bailar said of the crowd of protesters who had assembled in protest of Thomas’s participation on the women’s team. “And it’s also a symbol that we can both be who we are and do what we love.”
“It means the world to be here.”
Lia Thomas spoke about swimming in the NCAA women’s championships. pic.twitter.com/aP0afVA0KE
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 18, 2022
Thomas, who is biologically male, has been the subject of national debate regarding whether trans athletes should be allowed to compete on women’s athletic teams.
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USA Swimming and the NCAA adjusted their policies in January regarding trans athletes in women’s sports. In March, the NCAA began allowing individual teams to decide whether trans athletes were allowed to compete, while USA Swimming said it would require proof from the biologically male trans athletes that their “physical development” would not give them an advantage over their female opponents.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Penn swim team for a statement but did not receive a response back.
