Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas nominated for NCAA’s ‘Women of the Year’ award

Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas has been nominated by the University of Pennsylvania for the NCAA’s “Woman of the Year” award.

Transgender college swimmer Lia Thomas has been nominated by the University of Pennsylvania for the NCAA’s 2022 “Woman of the Year” award.

Thomas, who won the 500-yard freestyle at the 2022 NCAA Women’s Division I Swimming and Diving Championships earlier this year, is one of 577 graduating female student athletes nominated by their schools for the prestigious award, the NY Post reports.

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She graduated from UPenn this year after the record-smashing season mired in controversy, with critics claiming she had an unfair advantage competing in the women’s division when she was born a biological male.

Caitlyn Jenner, a transgender activist and former Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete, called Thomas’ participation in the women’s division “one of the worst things to happen to the trans community”.

The swimmer’s UPenn teammates also voiced their concerns, with one saying the team’s wins felt “tainted.”

“I knew there would be scrutiny against me if I competed as a woman, and I was prepared for that,” the 22-year-old Texan told Good Morning America in her first TV interview about the controversy sparked by her record-breaking performances in the pool.

“I intend to keep swimming … It’s been a goal of mine to swim at Olympic trials for a very long time, and I would love to see that through.”

Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas of Penn University. Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP

Sky News host Rita Panahi said on Saturday: “This is just remarkable. The patriarchy wins again and again.

“It seems like biological male bodies are far better at being women than women are … where trans women win woman of the year awards instead of women who have been women their entire lives.

“But that seems to not be interesting anymore.”

Just last month, the world swimming’s governing body, FINA, effectively banned transgender women from competing in elite women’s events, including Thomas.

The new “gender inclusion policy” only permits swimmers who transitioned before age 12 to compete in women’s events. The organisation also proposed an “open competition category”.

The award Thomas is up for “recognises female student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in their community, in athletics and in academics throughout their college careers,” the NCAA said in its announcement, listing all of the nominees.

“Each year, NCAA member schools are encouraged to celebrate their top graduating female student-athletes by nominating them for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award,” the organisation said.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission