Lia Thomas Fighting Secret Legal Battle While Eyeing Spot On Women's Team For 2024 Olympics
Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas wants the chance to qualify for the U.S. Women's squad ahead of the upcoming Olympics and has reportedly been fighting a secret legal fight in hopes of making that happen.
World Aquatics bans biological males from competing in women's races, and the irony of it is that Thomas played a pivotal role in that ban coming to fruition.
Three months after Thomas won gold in the 500-yard women's freestyle in the 2022 NCAA Championships, the governing body issued a ban on any athlete who had gone through male puberty. Thomas certainly has done that, given they began their college swimming career in the men's division.
The 24-year-old is looking to have that ban wiped away, and in rapid fashion, to take part in the Paris Olympic trials. Thomas has reportedly hired Canadian law firm Tyr and is asking for the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland to overturn the rules imposed by World Aquatics.
Lia Thomas wants to compete in the Olympics and has secretly started a legal battle in hopes of doing so. (Photo by Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)
Lia Thomas Heads To Court
The case began very quietly in September and World Aquatics immediately applied to have it thrown out because Thomas had not submitted to the rules and jurisdiction of USA swimming. Thomas is not a member of a domestic federation subject to USA Swimming's rules, therefore ruling out Thomas as an eligible candidate to challenge the organization.
Thomas' case is not only in a fight against biology and common sense but the clock as well. The deadline for entry to Olympic trials is June 4 ahead of the actual qualifying on June 15. Before that, Thomas would have to submit swimming times a month prior to even qualify for a trial spot. Thomas and their legal team would need a verdict and a rulebook re-written in under four months' time.
Thomas has been vocal in the past about wanting to compete in Olympic trials and perhaps qualify for the Games.
Back in 2022, when ESPN and ABC honored Thomas during Women's History Month, Thomas sat down with 'Good Morning America' and made it clear that the Olympics were on their mind.
"It's been a goal of mine to swim in Olympic trials for a very long time and I would love to see that through," Thomas said.
Thomas' winning time in the 500-yard women's freestyle in 2022, when converted to meters and the 50-meter Olympic-sized pool, would put them in a Top 20 position among females. Thomas' fastest pace when competing as a male named Will would not have put them in the Top 1,000 in the 400-meter freestyle against men.