American swimming is facing fresh criticism after Lia Thomas, the sport’s most high-profile transgender athlete, made history by winning a prestigious NCAA title in Atlanta on Thursday night – beating a Tokyo Olympic medalist into third.

Thomas, who competed on the University of Pennsylvania’s men’s team until 2019 prior to her transition, became the first transgender champion in Division I history with her victory in the 500-yard freestyle in Atlanta.

She faced protests at the meet, which is the highest-profile event in American college swimming, and her victory was greeted by muted applause compared to second-placed Emma Weyant. Erica Sullivan, a silver medalist in the 1,500 meter event at last year’s Tokyo Olympics, finished third.

Sharron Davies, the former British Olympic silver medalist and a vocal critic of transgender athletes, later called the result an “injustice”.

The story of Thomas is one that has divided America and, while the decision to allow her to compete has generally been met with support by her rivals and team-mates, a student competing at the championships became the first public voice of dissent on Thursday when she claimed it was unfair that she has been allowed to “blow away the competition”.

“I have a team-mate who did not make finals today because she was just bumped out of finals”, the student, who spoke on camera to the Rapid Fire podcast but was not named, said. “It’s heartbreaking to see someone who went through puberty as a male and has the body of a male be able to absolutely blow away the competition”.

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Thomas, 22, insists that she is able to block out the pockets of protests and growing public criticism of her presence in top-level swimming. “I try to ignore it as much as I can,” Thomas added. “I try to focus on my swimming, what I need to do to get ready for my races. And just try to block out everything else”.

Last month, USA Swimming unveiled a new policy to allow transgender athletes to swim in elite events by setting out criteria that aims to mitigate any “unfair advantages”.

Thomas competed on Pennsylvania’s men’s team for three years before transitioning and moving to the women’s team, setting multiple program records.

Her eligibility has come under considerable scrutiny. Thomas will also compete in the 200-yard and 100-yard NCAA championships this week…

Source: Independent