Transgender swimmer misses out on second US college title

Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas failed in her bid to win a second US College title on Friday, finishing in fifth place in the 200-yard freestyle final in Atlanta.

Thomas, who competes for the University of Pennsylvania, had been the top seed heading into Friday’s morning preliminaries but finished second in qualifying.

In the final, Thomas, who won the 500-yard freestyle crown on Thursday, was left trailing way off the pace, touching the wall more than two seconds behind winner Taylor Ruck.

Ruck, a four-time Olympic relay medalist for Canada, won in a time of 1min 41.12sec, with the University of California’s Isabel Ivey second in 1:41.59. Thomas was tied for fifth in 1:43.40.

Thomas’s participation in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships have been shrouded in controversy over her transgender status.

Critics and some fellow swimmers say she should not have been allowed to compete and has an unfair physiological advantage. Others say she should be allowed to compete freely as a woman.

Thomas, who competed as a man for the University of Pennsylvania before switching to the women’s team this season, shrugged off protests on Thursday to win the 500-yard title — making her the first transgender athlete to win a top-tier NCAA crown.

In a snub at the award ceremony for the race, second place finisher Emma Weyant joined third-place finisher Erica Sullivan — a Tokyo Olympic 1,500m silver medalist — and fourth-place finisher Brooke Forde on the third-place stand — literally as far away from Thomas as they could stand upon the podium.

Speaking after her Thursday victory, Thomas said she had attempted to calm the controversy surrounding her rise to dominance this season.

“I try to ignore it as much as I can, I try to focus on my swimming, what I need to do to get ready for my races and try to block out everything else,” Thomas said.

Last month, the governing body of swimming in the United States, USA Swimming, unveiled new guidelines that include a more stringent threshold for testosterone.

The NCAA, the governing body for US college sport, subsequently announced the new rules — and the new USA Swimming testosterone standard — would not be applied to the championships, saying to do so would have “unfair and potentially detrimental impacts” on athletes preparing for the meet.