University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas has spent the last few months shattering school and Ivy League records for women’s swimming. These accomplishments have made news because Thomas is transgender and as recently as 2019 competed as a man. In the 1,650-meter freestyle event, Thomas beat second-place Anna Karandadze by a whopping 38 seconds.
After a wave of public criticism, Thomas swam again but this time lost to Yale swimmer Iszac Henig, who is also transgender (but female-to-male). One of Thomas’ teammates subsequently told journalists that she was confident Thomas and Henig colluded, with Thomas having intentionally lost in order to “prove” that transgender women do not have unfair advantage over biologically female athletes.
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