(Reuters) – University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas turned the first transgender NCAA champion in Division I historical past after successful the ladies’s 500-yard freestyle in Atlanta.
Thomas beat Virginia’s Emma Weyant by 1.75 seconds with a time of 4 minutes and 33.24 seconds on Thursday, falling wanting Katie Ledecky’s NCAA report time of 4:24.06.
Erica Sullivan, a silver medallist within the 1,500 metre occasion eventually yr’s Tokyo Olympics, completed third.
“It means the world to be right here,” Thomas informed ESPN.
Last month, USA Swimming unveiled a brand new coverage to permit transgender athletes to swim in elite occasions by setting out standards that goals to mitigate any “unfair benefits”.
Thomas competed on Pennsylvania’s males’s workforce for 3 years earlier than transitioning and transferring to the ladies’s workforce, setting a number of programme information. Her eligibility has come below appreciable scrutiny, together with from a number of Pennsylvania workforce mates.
“I strive to ignore it as a lot as I can,” Thomas added. “I strive to give attention to my swimming, what I want to do to prepare for my races. And simply strive to block out all the pieces else.”
Thomas can even compete within the 200-yard and 100-yard NCAA championships this week.
(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
