University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas broke her silence Thursday amid widespread outrage over her smashing women’s swim records, praising the controversial IOC rules for transgender athletes and noted her muscle and strength loss while saying she’s ‘nowhere close’ to her pre-transition speeds – which would shatter female world records.
The transgender swimmer gave a 26-minute interview to SwimSwam, which covers college and Olympic swimming news, praising the fairness of the controversial IOC guidelines on inclusivity and saying they keep ‘competitional integrity going.’
Thomas – who competed as a man on the UPenn team for three years before she transitioned, now competing on the women’s team – continues to dominate in the pool, setting three school and two Ivy League records over the weekend at a meet. But her success has fanned the flames of an ongoing debate and upset some of her fellow UPenn teammates.
