Leah Thomas became the first openly trans athlete to win the NCAA Division I National Championship in any sport in March.
Leah Thomas has been criticized for being a trans swimmer amid the ongoing debate about trans women in school sports.
In March, the former University of Pennsylvania swimmer became the first openly transgender athlete to win the NCAA Division I national championship in any sport.
“I think the biggest misunderstanding is why I switched,” Thomas said on ABC News and ESPN Tuesday.
Thomas appeared to cite three years of swimming history for the UPenn men’s team before moving to the women’s team in his senior year. Adding, “People are going to be like, ‘Oh, he just graduated to have the edge to win. true to myself.”
He then shared his thoughts on the recent laws restricting trans athletes. Accounts like HB 972 Pennsylvania Thomas has previously. Said trans athletes can feel “lonely” urge students to play on teams that match their gender at birth. It is also known as the Women’s Sports Rescue Act. “Trans women who compete in women’s sports generally don’t harm women’s sports,” Thomas told ESPN and ABC News. “Trans women are a small minority of all athletes.
The NCAA rules for trans women competing in women’s sports have been around for more than ten years.
About his transition, Thomas, who suffers from gender dysphoria and mental health issues, said he started hormone therapy in May 2019. He had just finished his sophomore year and believed he had given up Swimming forever.
By the time she started her senior year last November, she had received 30 months of hormone therapy. Exceeding the then-NCAA requirement for trans women to receive 12 months of hormone therapy. Before competing in women’s sports, ESPN had said.
Months later, in January, the NCAA said it would follow each sport’s lead in deciding whether a trans athlete could compete. However, the NCAA stuck with its former policy and the requirement of no more than ten nanomoles of testosterone per liter.