Is Lia Thomas Finished? New USA Swimming Policy Means Big Changes

USA Swimming stunned the sports world by issuing a new policy on athlete inclusion, competitive equity and eligibility Tuesday, and some say it could spell the end of Lia Thomas’s college swimming career. Or, the out transgender student-athlete from the University of Pennsylvania may survive to swim again, in just two weeks at the NCAA Division I national championship meet. Which outcome is more likely? That depends.

Even Fox News, which Media Matters reported has been leading a “hate campaign” against Thomas with 32 segments in six weeks, couldn’t come up with a scarier word for her future than “murkier.”

The big takeaways from Tuesday’s announcement:

• USA Swimming issued a new policy limiting trans participation, citing “statistical data,” but did so without noting any medical or scientific evidence to support it, and introduced a new, lower mandate for testosterone levels for a far longer period than any sporting organization has ever required.
• The organization introduced a new “decision-making panel comprised of three independent medical experts” to guide eligibility decisions and
• USA Swimming compared the competitive performance of male swimmers to female swimmers as justification for these policy changes, without acknowledging that trans women are women, not men.

Can She, or Can’t She?

All this comes almost two months after Austin, Texas native Lia Thomas, 22, made a splash by setting two new women’s records, and less than two weeks after the NCAA responded to calls for change by passing the buck to individual sports associations. The organization abandoned its 11-year-old, one-size-fits-all trans participation policy, in favor of a sport-by-sport model similar to what the International Olympic Committee adopted last November and plans to put in place next month.

The lack of clarity in this latest twist of “can she, or can’t she?” has advocates on both sides of the transgender inclusion debate slamming USA Swimming, with just one notable exception:

Nancy Hogshead-Makar, Olympian, attorney and Title IX advocate, did the Twitter-equivalent of a victory lap, hailing a policy that just happens to be almost word-for-word what she has been preaching in anti-trans media such as the Daily Mail and Swimming World, with headlines like: Why Lia Thomas and Transgender Athletes Must Not Compete Against Biological Females.

Whether she dictated them or her words were simply copy-pasted isn’t known, but what is clear is that USA Swimming’s new policy divides student-athletes into two categories.

Policy for Elite Athletes

The policy for elite student swimmers and divers was, according to a press release posted online, “created for transgender athlete participation in the U.S. that relies on science and medical evidence-based methods to provide a level-playing field for elite cisgender women, and to mitigate the advantages associated with male puberty and physiology.”

But there are two caveats in the policy that may put a cramp in Hogshead-Makar’s celebration. The first one is found buried at the end of Tuesday’s announcement. As Outsports’ Karleigh Webb reported, USA Swimming states their elite policy applies only to members of USA Swimming and specific contests that are considered “elite” events. But collegiate conference or national championships—like the one in Atlanta next month, for which Thomas already holds two automatic qualifying spots—are not listed as “elite” events by USA Swimming. Also, according to the organization’s CEO, Tim Hinchey, Thomas is not a member of USA Swimming, as swimswam reported.

So, perhaps Thomas will be able to compete in Atlanta afterall? Well, that’s not how it looked to transgender rights advocates and journalists, who accused USA Swimming of crafting a policy specifically to target Thomas and remove her from competition against cisgender women.

Non-Elite Athlete Policy

“At the non-elite level,” said the statement from USA Swimming, “an inclusive process has been established by which an athlete can elect to change their competition category in order for them to experience the sport of swimming in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity and expression.”

Someone at USA Swimming is under the false impression that transgender people switch genders willy-nilly, and might transition from male to female just to win a trophy. As Webb outlined in her excellent report for Outsports, No One Transitions to Win in Sports, this well-worn trope is a baseless myth. But just in case, USA Swimming put a line in its new policy that forbids a male to female student-athlete from competing as a male for four years following its approval to compete on a women’s team. It might as well have also forbidden students from growing wheels and becoming wagons.

The Other Caveat

Check out the lead paragraph of Tuesday’s announcement for the second exception to the new rule, which may allow Thomas to compete next month. USA Swimming had originally claimed on Jan. 19th that it was waiting on the Fédération Internationale de Natation, aka FINA, to craft a new policy. It appears that wasn’t happening as fast as USA Swimming had hoped, and led to the new policy… which the organization suggested may change again: “This policy, effective immediately,” said the press release, “will remain in place until the release of an elite policy by FINA.”

So, depending on what FINA comes up with, and when, all this hand-wringing could be for nought.

There is certainly plenty of that to go around, on both sides. The Independent Women’s Law Center and Independent Women’s Forum condemned USA Swimming, claiming its new lower testosterone level mandates for trans girls and women—less than 5 nmol/L continuously for a period of at least 36 months before the date of application—were still too high compared to cisgender girls and women.

And continuing where advocates on the other side of the issue left off:

Whether this decision impacts Lia Thomas, or was allegedly intended to target her, isn’t as critical as how it could eliminate so many more, younger trans student-athletes, from ever competing in their authentic gender. Which, advocates say, is exactly the point.

Support for Lia Thomas

There was one other big development related to the controversy Tuesday. In contrast to tabloid and right-wing media stories quoting anonymous Penn Quakers swimmers talking trash about Thomas, ESPN’s Katie Barnes reported that several members of the women’s team took a public stand to show they support their teammate. None signed their names, but they wanted to counter the negative narrative that has been circulating.

“We want to express our full support for Lia in her transition,” the athletes said in their statement. “We value her as a person, teammate, and friend. The sentiments put forward by an anonymous member of our team are not representative of the feelings, values, and opinions of the entire Penn team, composed of 39 women with diverse backgrounds.”