- ABC News
- March 3, 2022
University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, a transgender woman, wants to continue to compete after college, with the 2024 U.S. Olympic trials as a goal, according to Sports Illustrated. "I don't know exactly what the future of my swimming will look like after this year, but I would love to continue doing it," Thomas told Sports Illustrated in a story published Thursday. "I want to swim and compete as who I am." Thomas, who set the nation's best times in the 200 (1:41.93) and 500 (4:34.06) earlier this season, has been at the heart of a debate about who gets to compete, and win, in women's sports. Before competing on the women's team, Thomas spent three seasons on the men's team at Penn. "The very simple answer is that I'm not a man. I'm a woman, so I belong on the women's team," Thomas told SI. "Trans people deserve that same respect every other athlete gets." Thomas, who has applied to law school, is scheduled to compete at the NCAA Women's Division I Swimming and...