Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas chased down her historic 500-yard freestyle title by qualifying for Friday’s 200-yard freestyle final, outpacing the protesters at the US Collegiate Women’s Championships in Atlanta.
Thomas, who competes for the University of Pennsylvania, was the top seed in Friday morning’s early 200 but finished second in qualifying.
Stanford’s Taylor Ruck, a four-time Olympic relay medalist for Canada, was first in 1:42.09 with Thomas in 1 minute 41.89 seconds before Friday night’s final.
Thomas, after his season-best 200-yard entry time of 1:41.93, is seeded 10th on Saturday at 47.63 for 100.
Thomas, who competed as a man for Penn years ago, became the first transgender athlete to win a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) top-tier title, beating Virginia’s Emma Weynt in 4:33.24 on Thursday. defeated the runner-up. 4:34.99.
In a jolt at the awards ceremony for the race, Wyant joins third-place finisher Erica Sullivan – a Tokyo Olympic 1,500m silver medalist – and fourth-placed Brooke Ford – literally as much as Thomas. It’s far Can stand on the podium.
Thomas received little applause after being announced as the winner, in contrast to the loud cheers that greeted the other leading 500m finishers.
A small number of protesters gathered outside the venue to demonstrate against Thomas’ involvement, waving banners that read, “Support Fair Games for Women and Girls” and “Stand Up for 4 Women.”
Speaking after Thursday’s win, Thomas said he had attempted to calm the controversy surrounding his rise to dominance this season.
Thomas said, “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 race and trying to stop everything else.” Is.”
“I didn’t have a lot of expectations for this meeting. I was just happy to be here, trying to run and compete as much as I could.
“It means being here in the world, being with my two best friends and teammates and being able to compete.”
Her case has divided opinion, with some – including several teammates – arguing that she has an unfair physical advantage and should be barred from competing, while others say she should be barred from competing. Should be allowed to compete freely as a woman.
Last month, the governing body of swimming in the United States, USA Swimming, unveiled new guidelines that include more stringent limits for testosterone.
The NCAA, the governing body for US college sport, later announced the new rules – and the new USA Swimming Testosterone Standard – would not be applied to championships, saying doing so would have an “unfair and potentially harmful effect” on athletes’ preparation. Milan.
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