Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas plans to break her silence and exclusively share her story with Sports Illustrated, as parents and student-athletes have slammed her participation on the UPenn women’s team and a swim coach from Rice University blasts the NCAA for failing to craft policies that ensure fairness.
The New York Times broke news of the interview on Monday, which was the first time the publication even covered the controversial swimmer, despite her having made headlines for months.
The newspaper, noting have she carried herself with ‘grace and ease’ during Saturday’s meet, claims Thomas, 22, has declined to speak with any other media outlets – including the newspaper itself – noting that Penn and Harvard officials announced Saturday that their swimmers cannot be interviewed.
It remains unclear when the Sports Illustrated interview will be released. SI representatives and UPenn Athletics did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
Thomas became eligible under NCAA rules to compete in collegiate competitions as a member of the women’s program after she underwent the required one-year of testosterone suppressant use.
Her upcoming interview comes as parents, student-athletes and other members of the university athletics community are blasting the NCAA for allowing the swimmer to compete against her biologically-born female opponents, whom she keeps beating. They have spoken out anonymously to multiple news outlets, refusing to put their names and faces to public statements out of fear they will be branded anti-trans and not be able to get a job in the future.
Rice University swim coach Seth Huston, a four-time Conference USA Coach of the Year, called out the organization, saying: ‘The NCAA once again has proven that it is not leading. It is not really even following.’
Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas (pictured Jan. 8, 2022) is exclusively sharing her story to Sports Illustrated as parents and student-athletes slam her participation on the women’s team as ‘unfair’ and a swim coach from Rice University blasts the NCAA for allegedly failing to to craft policies that ensure fairness in women’s sports
The interview comes as Rice University swim coach Seth Huston (left) has blasted the NCAA for ‘becoming a bystander’ and allowing outside organizations to make decisions about transgender athletes competing. Huston reiterated he believes Thomas (right) should be allowed to compete, but thinks her competing in the woman’s team is ‘patently unfair to all the other competitors’
‘The NCAA governance has become a bystander waiting for other organizations to make tough decisions,’ Huston told swimming news outlet SwimSwam.com last week, commenting on the collegiate athletic association’s updated transgender-participation policy.
‘They hoped NIL would continue to be suppressed and now they are scrambling to make it fit their construct. Now they sit on the sidelines with Transgender issues.’
Huston reiterated that he believes Thomas should be allowed to compete, but thinks her competing on the woman’s team is ‘patently unfair to all the other competitors’.
‘Lia has every right to compete,’ he said. ‘But I think, black and white right now, you compete as what you were biologically born until we get to a point where we’ve expanded opportunities, you know for instance, in transgender.’
The coach added: ‘I get Title IX, I understand it, Lia is completely within the law to do so. But there are other ways I think we can be accommodating and making opportunities for Lia without hurting a whole of others.’
He also alleged that the sport is ‘bowing’ to one athlete ‘to the detriment of thousands of other athletes potentially.’
Huston is reportedly the first Division I coach to speak on Thomas’ participation on the women’s swim team.
His commentary came about a week after a father of a UPenn swimmer revealed that his daughter and ‘a good number’ of her teammates are furious and ‘crying on the pool deck’ because feel they can no longer compete fairly with Thomas on their team.
‘Lia has every right to compete,’ Huston said. ‘But I think, black and white right now, you compete as what you were biologically born until we get to a point where we’ve expanded opportunities, you know for instance, in transgender’ (Pictured: Lia Thomas finishing the 200 yard Freestyle at an Ivy League meet against Harvard on Jan. 22, 2022)
A picture from 2020 of the UPenn women’s Swimming and Diving team (circled, Thomas)
Thomas (pictured left in 2016) came out as transgender in 2019 and under NCAA rules was eligible to switch from the men’s team to the women’s after taking a year of testosterone suppressants. Thomas (pictured right on Jan. 8, 2022 after transitioning) is now dominating women’s college swimming records
‘They don’t agree with what Lia’s doing and they’re really unhappy with the situation,’ the father, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Fox News earlier this month. ‘Morale is bad.’
He also bashed the NCAA over its decision to pass the buck on trans athlete guidelines to USA Swimming, calling the move a ‘cop out,’ and demanded the sports organization now step up and ‘do the right thing.’
‘USA Swimming oversees all swimming in the United States, and I think if they really have courage they could craft a policy in such a way that tells little girls that USA Swimming has their best interests as well,’ he said.
‘The onus is now on USA Swimming to do something, and it’s my hope they have the courage to do the right thing and put stricter limits than what the current IOC policy states.’
He also added that his daughter has been angry about the whole situation and claims she lost spots on relay races because of Thomas: ‘She has given this sport everything she has and she feels like some of it’s been taken away.’
Pennsylvania’s Lia Thomas, pictured, looks on in the warm-up pool during a swim meet, Saturday, January 8, 2022, in Philadelphia
Huston’s commentary came about a week after a father of a UPenn swimmer revealed that his daughter and several of her teammates are furious and ‘crying on the pool deck’ because feel they can no longer compete fairly with Thomas (pictured on Jan. 8, 2022) on their team
A member of the UPenn swimming team believes Thomas (left) colluded with Yale transgender swimmer Iszac Henig (right) during a 100 freestyle race. The teammate says she is convinced believes Thomas and Henig came up with their plan before the Penn home tri-meet with Yale and Dartmouth
Additionally, a UPenn swimmer recently accused Thomas of plotting to lose to a Yale trans swimmer in early January to ‘prove that a woman can beat her’ and take heat off of her after garnering controversy for smashing UPenn women’s records.
The Yale swimmer, Iszac Henig, is transitioning from female to male but has delayed hormone therapy to remain eligible for the women’s team.
Henig defeated Thomas in the 100-yard freestyle, finishing with a time of 49.57, more than three seconds ahead of Thomas, who finished sixth with a time of 52.84.
The swimmer, who remained anonymous to avoid threats from the university and activists, said she believes Thomas and Henig planned before the Penn home tri-meet with Yale and Dartmouth earlier this month.
‘Looking at (Lia’s) time, I don’t think she was trying,’ she told Outkick.com. ‘I know they’re friends and I know they were talking before the meet. I think she (Thomas) let her win to prove the point that, ”Oh see, a female-to-male beat me.”’
When asked if she thought that Thomas threw the meet, the teammate said she was convinced. ‘I do. I can’t say for sure, but I wouldn’t be shocked if I found out that was 100% true,’ Thomas’ she said.
The anonymous teammate also accused Thomas of throwing another race, the 200-yard freestyle, where she finished in 1.48.73. Her closest competitor was just two seconds behind her.
Meantime, USA Swimming, which oversees more than 360,000 members, released a statement on Thursday after the NCAA Board of Governors said they will update their guidelines on ‘non-elite’ trans athletes to follow the wishes of each sport’s governing body.
USA Swimming announced it would allow ‘non-elite’ athletes to compete in a way that is ‘consistent with their gender identity,’ but did not make clear whether transgender swimmers like Thomas are considered elite.
It said it would ultimately defer its decisions to the international swimming federation, FINA, which has yet to put out official guidelines. FINA administers international competition for water sports and is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
‘USA Swimming firmly believes in inclusivity and the opportunity for all athletes to experience the sport of swimming in a manner consistent with their gender identity and expression,’ the statement read.
‘We also strongly believe in competitive equity, and, like many, are doing our best to learn and educate ourselves on the appropriate balance in this space.’
The statement cited the International Olympic Committee guidelines on transgender participation, which are already outdated. As of November, the IOC requires FINA to create its own sport-by-sport-eligibility requirements in regards to transgender athletes.