Swimmer Lia Thomas’ Case Against World Aquatics Transgender Athlete Rules Dismissed

Lia Thomas’ attempt to challenge World Aquatics’ policy on transgender athletes was rejected. Thomas, a transgender woman, argued the decision was discriminatory and took legal action against her earlier this year, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled this week that she has no right to challenge the rules.

Thomas has not signed up to compete in any global aquatics events and is no longer a member of USA Swimming, according to a decision obtained by CBS News. Thomas, the court said, “he is not sufficiently affected by the rules” and therefore cannot challenge them.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport, or CAS, says transgender women can compete in world water events under two conditions: they have not experienced male puberty or their male puberty was suppressed before age 12, and their testosterone levels are consistently below 2.5 nmol/L. .

USA Swimming’s policy states that transgender women must have less than 5 nmol/L testosterone consistently for 36 months before they can compete at elite levels. But the policy also states that to compete in international events, a transgender woman must meet World Aquatics criteria.

In 2022, World Aquatics voted to prevent trans women who have gone through male puberty from competing in elite events, according to BBC News.

When Thomas challenged the ruling earlier this year, the court said she “accepts that fair competition is a legitimate sporting objective and that some regulation of transgender women in swimming is appropriate.” But she argued that the provisions she challenged were invalid and illegal as they discriminated against her.

CBS News has reached out to World Aquatics, CAS and an attorney for Thomas and is awaiting a response.

Thomas was a star of the University of Pennsylvania swim teamearning the best 200-meter freestyle time in the 2022 NCAA season and finishing nearly 40 seconds ahead of her closest competitor in a race.

Thomas previously swam on the men’s team and followed NCAA and Ivy League rules when he began the transition in 2019. Thomas said during a podcast interview that his coach, Mike Schnur, and his team were “incredibly supportive from the beginning.” Both the university and the Ivy League also released statements of support for Thomas.

But the fact that she competes on the women’s team was also criticized. While a group of her teammates wrote a letter of support, 16 U Penn athletes wrote an anonymous letter to the NCAA saying she should not be allowed to swim on the women’s team.

The issue sparked debate among other athletes and non-athletes. Eighteen-time Grand Slam tennis winner Martina Navratilova wrote on social media that “it is not fair for women to race against transgender Lia Thomas.”

Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner, who came out as a trans woman in 2015, said “we need to protect women’s sports” when speaking about Thomas.

Schuyler Bailar, who became first trans athlete to compete in NCAA Division 1 men’s team when he swam for Harvard, he supported Thomas, whom he once competed against. He said although she receives backlash, many of the messages Thomas receives are positive and supportive.

“The story is that trans women are going to destroy women’s sports, and that’s also false,” Bailar said. “People want to police the female category. People care a lot about what they think constitutes femininity, and a lot of people want to police exactly what femininity looks like, and as a result, they end up policing trans women.”