Lia Thomas's Win At Ivy League Women’s Championships Renews Debate On 'Unfairness' Of Transgender Women Competing Against Biological Females

Lia Thomas, a transgender female representing the University of Pennsylvania’s women’s swimming and diving team, won the 500-yard freestyle finals at the Ivy League Championships on Thursday (Feb 17).

Thomas's victory has renewed the focus on the controversial issue of allowing transgender women to compete against biological females.

Thomas, who has been dominating the swimming competitions this season, previously competed for three years on the school’s men’s team.

Thomas, who underwent hormone treatments for nearly two and a half years to transition as a female, currently meets the testosterone threshold of 10 nmols/L set by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in order to compete as a female athlete.

USA Swimming (the apex association for the sport in the country) however sets the testosterone threshold at 5 nmols/L. US Swimming has also recently updated its guidelines to require that transgender competitors suppress their testosterone for three years.

According to the NCAA Policy on 'Transgender Student-Athlete Participation', a trans female must have undergone at least one year of testosterone suppression treatment before being eligible to compete on a women's team.

While NCAA initially indicated it would abide by USA Swimming guidelines, it retreated from that stance and followed its own standards.

Iszac Henig, another transgender athlete representing Yale, finished first in the 50-yard freestyle championship race held earlier on Wednesday (Feb 16). He also powered Yale to finish second in both relays contested on Day One of the Ivy League meet.

Henig has transitioned to male. But since he has not taken testosterone, Henig is eligible to compete in the women’s championships.

Incidentally Thomas and Henig squared off against each other during the 800-yard freestyle relay race on Wednesday as they opened the proceeding for their teams. Thomas was in first place after the first leg, finishing with a 1:44.50 while Henig had a 1:44.65 in the two fastest splits of the competition.

Testosterone-based guidelines have faced criticism as it does not take into account bone density, accumulated muscle mass, or other considerations.

While many fellow swimmers have supported Thomas's decision on biological transition, some of them have expressed helplessness and frustration at the unfair advantage they have over the competition.

One of Lia Thomas' teammates complained about feeling uncomfortable sharing a locker room with the transgender UPenn swimmer

'It's definitely awkward because Lia still has male body parts and is still attracted to women,' she said

The swimmer said that multiple teammates have raised their concerns with their coach, trying to get Thomas ousted from the female locker room