By Josh Carter
July 18, 2022
PHILADELPHIA – Controversial transgender swimmer Lia Thomas has been nominated for the NCAA’S woman of the year award by the University of Pennsylvania.
In March, Thomas made headlines after becoming the first transgender athlete to win a division 1 NCAA Title in the women’s 500-yard freestyle.
Thomas, born a male having XY chromosomes competed for the Men’s team at UPENN for three years and was nationally ranked #462. After transitioning Thomas began to compete on the woman’s team at UPEN where she would first make waves after dominating the Zippy invitational in December in Ohio, setting new NCAA records as she won the 200 and 500-yard freestyles and winning the 100-yard freestyle race.
FINNA, the worlds governing body for swimming sent out a press release back in June for the recently created policy regarding transgender athletes competing in both men’s and women’s competitions and according to the new policy Thomas would be deemed ineligible to compete.
The nomination of Thomas is not without criticism as Clay Travis, the founder of Outkick, a sports media company spoke on the controversial swimmers’ nomination on Fox News.
Travis was not the only person to speak out against the NCAA and Thomas’s Woman of the year nomination, Kim Jones, a former All-American tennis player whose daughter competed against Thomas also spoke to Fox News calling the nomination “humiliating” and “devastating” and accusing the school of sending a message that women don’t matter.”
Marshi Smith, a former NCAA champion swimmer and co-founder of ICONS, the Independent Council on Women’s Sports stated in an interview with Fox that “the NCAA needs to acknowledge fundamental truths.”
“There is a biological difference between men and women. And if we can’t agree that that foundational truth is a reality, then how can we protect our girls and women?” Smith continued.
The Woman of the Year selection committee will select the winner at the NCAA Convention in January in San Antonio.
Joshua Carter 
Travis Tyler