Trans Swimmer Lia Thomas Barred From Olympics After World Aquatics’ Transgender Policy Holds Up

After winning the women’s 500-yard freestyle, World Aquatics barred the swimmer from competing in future women’s events. This past year, she filed a lawsuit against the organization in a bid to re-enter the sport.

The governing body creates the rules for high-level competitions like the Olympics and world championships. However, Thomas would still be able to compete in the “open category.”

Thomas quickly became a polarizing figure. The transgender community looked up to her as a person pursuing their passion, while other swimmers in the event called the whole thing unfair as they saw Thomas having a biological advantage. Before switching to the women’s team, Thomas competed for three years on the men’s squad at UPenn.

Thomas asked the arbitration courts located in Switzerland to overturn the rules, citing discrimination and unlawful practices.

The panel also noted that USA Swimming has no authority to modify the cope of applying the rules set out by World Aquatics.

In a statement to USA Today, the organization recognized the following: “World Aquatics is dedicated to fostering an environment that promotes fairness, respect, and equal opportunities for athletes of all genders and we reaffirm this pledge. Our policies and practices are continuously evaluated to ensure they align with these core values, which led to the introduction of our open category.”

The group further stated, “We remain committed to working collaboratively with all stakeholders to uphold the principles of inclusivity in aquatic sports and remain confident that our gender inclusion policy represents a fair approach.”

Hormone therapy, like estrogen injections, is said even to increase the playing field between the two groups. However, the muscle and height already gained still stand as an advantage for swimmers who have gone through male puberty. That being said, there are no height or weight restrictions for female swimmers; an exceptionally tall woman with broad shoulders would most likely be better matched against Thomas.

Congress thinks that they have a good reason for the division. In the Title IX ruling, they determined that irrespective of size or height, males, as a group, are stronger and have more explosive force, making them better at certain sports, even against women their own size.

One example is professional boxer Patricio Manuel, who underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2014. Despite not going through male puberty, Manuel had a long winning streak that recently ended in April.

She issued the following statement on the ruling: “This ruling is a small victory for girls and women everywhere. I think we will see more wins like this both in the judicial courts and the courts public opinion as time goes on. Although he would never qualify, Thomas can still try out for the men’s U.S. Olympic team. I hope the NCAA now takes a similar decisive action by stripping Thomas off all awards, titles, and records he stole from deserving female athletes.”

The policy was originally created because the International Olympic Committee allowed each sport to govern its rules regarding this touchy subject. The Olympics itself does not decide who plays in each sport; rather, each country uses a series of championships and finals to select its athletes.