Transgender athlete Lia Thomas has taken World Aquatics to international court to challenge its recently tightened policy on transgender eligibility in women’s swimming, spurring speculation about a possible Olympics bid.
Thomas, the first known male-born athlete to win an NCAA Division I women’s title, has filed a challenge to the revised World Aquatics transgender policy at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland, as first reported Thursday by the (U.K.) Telegraph.
The court confirmed Friday the “registration of the request for arbitration filed by U.S. transgender swimmer Lia Thomas (the athlete), aimed at challenging certain parts of World Aquatics’ Policy on the Eligibility for the Men’s and Women’s Competition Categories.”
“In bringing the matter before CAS, Ms. Thomas seeks an order from the CAS declaring that the Challenged Provisions are unlawful, invalid, and of no force and effect,” said the court, adding that the arbitration proceedings began in September.
The rules issued in June 2022 prohibit male-to-female transgender swimmers from entering the elite women’s field unless they began a medical transition before the age of 12 or the onset of puberty, whichever is later.
The 24-year-old Thomas, who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2022, began transitioning to female after three years on the men’s swimming team, or well past puberty.
Canadian attorney Carlos Sayao, who represents Thomas, said “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,” Mr. Sayao, an attorney for the Tyr law firm in Toronto, told the Telegraph.
World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA, last year announced an “open” category for “all sexes and gender identities” timed to the World Cup competition in Berlin, though nobody entered the new category.
Lia (Will) Thomas has reportedly taken legal action against World Aquatics for implementing guidelines that prevent him from competing in women’s category.
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) January 26, 2024
A successful suit would bid a potential spot on the women’s Olympic team pic.twitter.com/UeRbIniIzH
Thomas has previously expressed interest in participating in the Olympic games. The U.S. swimming trials for the 2024 Paris Olympics are scheduled for June 15-23 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The top two swimmers in each event usually qualify for the Olympics.
“It’s been a goal of mine to swim at Olympic trials for a very long time, and I would love to see that through,” Thomas told ABC’s “Good Morning America” in May 2022, two months after winning the NCAA title but before the World Aquatics update.
Brent Nowicki, World Aquatics executive director, defended the international swimming body’s transgender-participation policy.
“The World Aquatics policy on gender inclusion, adopted by World Aquatics in June of 2022, was rigorously developed on the basis of advice from leading medical and legal experts, and in careful consultation with athletes,” he told the Telegraph. “World Aquatics remains confident that its gender inclusion policy represents a fair approach and remains absolutely determined to protect women’s sport.”
Thomas won the 500-yard freestyle at the 2022 NCAA Division I women’s swimming and diving championships, spurring a global debate about fairness versus inclusion in female athletics and intensifying pressure on sports authorities to stiffen their rules on transgender eligibility.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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