Former Penn swimmer Lia Thomas recently had her request for arbitration over USA Swimming's rules regarding the participation of transgender athletes in women's competitions dismissed.
Credit: Jesse ZhangLia Thomas, a 2022 Penn graduate and transgender swimmer, has lost her challenge against World Aquatics’ ban that prohibited transgender women who have gone through any part of male puberty from competing in women's aquatics.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed Thomas’ request for arbitration with World Aquatics, citing her lack of standing to challenge the policies since she is not a current member of USA Swimming.
Thomas filed the arbitration case with the support of Tyr, a Canadian law firm, in Switzerland’s Court of Arbitration in September 2023. Thomas and her lawyer, Carlos Sayao, argued that the 2022 rules are “discriminatory” and cause “profound harm to trans women”.
The World Aquatics rules were introduced in 2022 after Thomas won a championship title at the 2022 Division I National Championships and after an independent scientific study concluded that biological sex is a key determinant of athletic performance, with males outperforming females in sports due to biological differences. The study noted that the extent of the male/female performance gap varies by sport and competition, but the gap universally emerges at the onset of puberty.
Sayao said in a statement in January that “Lia has now had the door closed to her in terms of her future ability to practice her sport and compete at the highest level.”
“She’s bringing the case for herself and other trans women to ensure that any rules for trans women’s participation in sport are fair, appropriate, and grounded in human rights and science,” Sayao added.
Thomas has not competed at any level since the 2022 NCAA Championship meet. Despite that, Thomas told ABC News’ “Good Morning America” in 2022 that one of her lifetime goals was to compete in the Olympics. Based on her time cuts, she is not qualified for this week’s Olympic Trials.
The Court stated that “The panel concludes that since the Athlete is not entitled to participate in ‘Elite Event’ within the meaning of USA Swimming Policy, let alone to compete in a WA (World Aquatics) competition ... she is simply not entitled to engage with eligibility to compete in WA competitions.”
Notably, the court did not affirm the banning of transgender participation in international competitions.
“The CAS decision is deeply disappointing," Thomas said in a statement through her legal team. "Blanket bans preventing trans women from competing are discriminatory and deprive us of valuable athletic opportunities that are central to our identities. The CAS decision should be seen as a call to action to all trans women athletes to continue to fight for our dignity and human rights.”
Former University of Kentucky swimmer and activist Riley Gaines — who has built an activist career on protecting women’s sports after tying for fifth in the 200-yard freestyle with Thomas at 2022 NCAAs — stated on X that “This is a victory for women and girls everywhere.”
In a tweet misgendering Thomas, Gaines wrote, “Now the NCAA needs to strip him of every award, title, and record he stole from a deserving female athlete.” Gaines and over a dozen college athletes are currently suing the NCAA over allowing Thomas to compete at NCAAs in 2022.
2022 graduate and Thomas’ former Red and Blue teammate Paula Scanlan — who has also built an activism career out of her experience with Thomas — also reacted on X, writing, “Good. This shouldn’t have even been a case. Men don’t belong in any women’s sports.”
World Aquatics welcomed the decision and described it as a “major step forward in our efforts to protect women’s sports.”
“World Aquatics is dedicated to fostering an environment that promotes fairness, respect, and equal opportunities for athletes of all genders and we reaffirm this pledge," the group added in their statement.
World Aquatics has introduced an “open” category that would allow transgender swimmers to be eligible to compete. However, plans to debut the new category at the 2023 Berlin World Cup meet were canceled after no entries were received for any races across all strokes. Notably, its failure is due to a lack of trans swimmers being out at an elite competition level.
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