Lia Thomas reaches third remaining at NCAA swimming championships, to be No. four seed in 100-yard freestyle

ATLANTA — Penn swimmer Lia Thomas would be the fourth seed within the 100-yard freestyle remaining Saturday evening after posting a season-best time of 47.37 seconds within the morning prelims on the NCAA ladies’s swimming and diving championships.

Thomas was in seventh after the primary 50 however surged into second place in her warmth behind Virginia freshman Gretchen Walsh, who touched the wall in 46.78 seconds.

Walsh would be the high seed Saturday evening, adopted by NC State’s Katharine Berkoff, who gained her warmth in 46.89 seconds. Walsh and Berkoff additionally squared off within the 100 backstroke Friday evening, with Berkoff getting the win whereas setting American and NCAA information.

Thomas, a fifth-year senior who’s a transgender lady, entered the 100 freestyle with the 10th-fastest time within the nation, a mark she set on the Ivy League championships in February. She was not thought of to be among the many favorites within the occasion.

Yale junior Iszac Henig reached the 100 freestyle remaining by swimming a career-best 47.55 on Saturday morning and incomes the No. eight seed. Henig, who’s a transgender man, is eligible for the ladies’s championships as a result of he has not began hormone remedy.

Thomas and Henig will sq. off for the primary time on the NCAA championships within the 100 freestyle remaining, although neither is favored to win. Will probably be a rematch of their showdown on the Ivy League championships, the place Thomas bought the win over Henig.

On Thursday, Thomas became the first transgender athlete to win a Division I national championship when she gained the 500 freestyle. She tied for fifth within the 200 freestyle Friday.

Thomas’ victory within the 500 freestyle got here amid protests exterior of Georgia Tech’s McAuley Aquatic Middle and noticeable quiet from the in any other case rowdy crowd inside. The protests exterior dissipated Saturday, however the temper contained in the pool continued to be muted in its reception to Thomas.

Few members of the swimming group have gone on the file with their opinions about Thomas and the inclusion of transgender ladies in ladies’s sports activities, however that ice has begun to thaw all through the championship meet.

For Shelley Hetzer, whose daughter Emily competes within the 200, 500 and 1650 freestyle for Auburn, the truth that Thomas has not gained past the 500 does not have an effect on her opinion on the query of equity.

“I feel it is scientifically unfair,” Hetzer advised ESPN. “I really feel for her, however I feel it is unfair for cisgender females.”

There may be some help combined in with those that do not feel like Thomas’ inclusion within the ladies’s class is honest. Olympic silver medalist Erica Sullivan printed an opinion piece in Newsweek on Friday expressing help for Thomas, writing “I can not sit silently by as I see a fellow swimmer’s basic rights be put up for debate.”

In December, Thomas set what was then the nation’s quickest instances within the 200 and 500 freestyle on the Zippy Invitational in Akron, Ohio. Her success at that meet garnered nationwide consideration and upended the swimming season. The NCAA modified its coverage for transgender athletes in December, shifting from a blanket requirement throughout all sports activities to a sport-specific method that leaned on the insurance policies of the nationwide governing our bodies.

However after USA Swimming launched an up to date coverage — which might have put Thomas’ eligibility in jeopardy if utilized to the NCAA championships — the NCAA delayed its implementation, clearing the best way for Thomas to compete this week in Atlanta.

When Thomas dives into the pool Saturday evening, it will likely be the ultimate swim of her faculty profession. And the tip of a season that has dominated headlines.