Lia Thomas qualifies first in 500 freestyle at NCAA championships; small crowd protests swimmer exterior occasion

ATLANTA — With a small group of protesters exterior, Penn’s Lia Thomas certified for the 500-yard freestyle remaining on the NCAA girls’s swimming and diving championships Thursday morning.

Thomas completed in Four minutes, 33.82 seconds in her debut on the championships to qualify first for Thursday night time’s remaining. It was the primary time she has improved on her time within the occasion because the December meet the place she swam a 4:34.06, which was the highest NCAA time of the season coming into the championships.

9 protesters from the group Save Ladies’s Sports activities gathered exterior the McAuley Aquatic Middle at Georgia Tech to protest Thomas’ participation. The protesters held indicators that learn, “Assist honest sports activities for ladies and ladies,” and one protester wore a shirt that learn “That man is a cheat” in daring, white letters. Thomas is a transgender lady who beforehand competed three seasons on the Quakers’ males’s workforce.

“I got here to assist girls and ladies,” Jeanna Hoch, who traveled from Denver and has two daughters, informed ESPN. “They don’t have the identical alternatives that I had. There isn’t any single-sex competitors anymore.”

The variety of protesters grew to greater than 20 later Thursday morning. Spectators stopped to take pictures with the group, and a few accepted pamphlets and stickers to point out assist. There have been additionally greater than a dozen individuals exterior the occasion supporting Thomas.

Thomas made nationwide headlines after she posted the nation’s prime occasions within the 200 and 500 freestyle in December on the Zippy Invitational in Akron, Ohio. In February, she gained Ivy League titles within the 100, 200 and 500 freestyle and was the highest factors scorer of the meet. She is slated to compete in all three occasions on the NCAA championships.

If she wins a championship in Atlanta this week, Thomas would be the first recognized transgender individual to say a Division I nationwide title.

Additionally in Thursday night time’s remaining will probably be Stanford swimmer and Tokyo Olympian Brooke Forde, who certified sixth with a time of 4:38.19 and completed second behind Thomas of their warmth. Forde already has a nationwide title at this meet as a part of Stanford’s dominant win within the 800 freestyle relay Wednesday night time.

Forde is one among only a few of Thomas’ opponents who’ve shared their perspective on swimming in opposition to her. Forde launched a press release in January during which she mentioned she had no drawback swimming in opposition to Thomas, and she or he mentioned Wednesday night time that she nonetheless feels that method.

“I’ll swim my race the best way I need to irrespective of who I am subsequent to and who else is right here,” Forde mentioned.

Yale junior Iszac Henig additionally was in motion Thursday morning, qualifying 15th within the 50 free to advance to the “B” remaining Thursday night time. Henig, a transgender man who’s eligible to compete within the girls’s match as a result of he’s not taking testosterone, may also swim the 100 free in Atlanta.

Virginia junior Kate Douglas set a meet document within the 50 free, touching the wall in 20.87.