Lia Thomas is an American Transgender Swimmer. She is the first trans woman to win an NCAA Division I National Championship. For the first time, she competed in the men’s swimming team of the University of Pennsylvania from 2017 to 2020. Her participation in sports opened up the debate about transgender people in sports. Here is everything you need to know about the first transgender competing in swimming, including Lia Thomas height, weight, age, zodiac sign, parents and career.
Lia Thomas Height and Weight
Lia’s height is 1.93 meters, or 193cm, equal to 6 feet 3 inches. She is definitely taller than average. Her weight is currently 65kg, equal to 143 pounds.
Birth Name and Age
Lia’s birth name is Lia Catherine Thomas. She was born in 1999 and is currently 23 years old.
Zodiac Sign
Her zodiac sign is Sagittarius. Sagittarians are intelligent, sympathetic, and faithful. They are jolly and choose freedom and individuality.
Family, Brothers, and Parents
Lia Thomas was born in Austin, Texas. Her father’s name is Bob Thomas, and her mother is Carrie Thomas. She has one brother whose name is unknown. There is nothing much out in the public about her family.
Early life, Education
Lia grew up in Austin, Texas. She got her early education from Westlake High School. She was passionate about swimming as she started at age 5. Thomas competed in the state high school championship and got the sixth position at her first presence. Then she joined the University of Pennsylvania and graduated from there.
After that, Lia planned to join law school to pursue a career as a civil rights attorney. Currently, she is studying law and preparing herself to compete in the Paris Olympics 2024.
Discovering Her Gender Identity
After completing school, she feels something unusual about her gender identity. As we can see from her physical attributes, she is taller than a typical female and has masculine traits.
Lia opted to have sex change in 2018. She also got hormone replacement therapy in 2019 and appeared as a trans woman during her university days. After finding her actual gender identity, she thought it was a sort of rebirth.
Swimming Career
While at studying at the University of Pennsylvania she was part of the man’s swimming team university from 2017 to 2022. Lia recorded 8 minutes and 57.55 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle.
But after getting hormone therapy, she lost muscle mass and strength, which affected her swimming performance. Lia Thomas height has been a driving force behind her amazing swimming performance.
Here are some highlights of her swimming career to date:
- She is the first trans woman to win an NCAA Division I.
- During 2018-2019, she ranked in the men’s category as 554 in the 200 freestyle, 65 in the 500 freestyle, and 32 in 1650 freestyle.
- This year (2022), she ranked 6th in the 100m freestyle and won the woman’s 500-yard freestyle in 4:33:24. She beat Emma Weyant, an Olympic silver medalist, in this competition.
- Also, in the 200 freestyle, she got the second position in the preliminaries and ranked fifth with a time of 1:43:50 in the finals.
- She finally got the tenth position in the preliminaries of the 100 freestyle.
NCAA Championship Controversy
Lia Thomas won the NCAA Championship in March 2022. After her victory, several athletes and individuals said that it was an unfair victory because of her gender identity. Several celebrities, including Caitlyn Jenner, have denounced Thomas’ victory by saying it was unfair competition.
But some people came ahead in favor of Lia Thomas. Brooke Forde, a silver medalist, and four-time NCAA champion spoke about it. She said treating people with respect and dignity is more important than trophies.
Lia also responded to this controversy in an interview on Good Morning America. She said that swimming at the Olympics for America was her childhood dream. Lia will continue to swim to make her dream true. She said that it is not her fault that she is a trans woman.
Announcement from FINA
In June 2022, the international swimming federation allowed transgender people to compete in the women swimming category provided that they have shown signs of male puberty before age 12. This announcement may bar Lia from competing in women’s competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Does Lia Have a Girlfriend?
Lia keeps her personal life far away from the media. She rarely speaks about the controversies around her. However, it appears she is currently not involved in any relationship. She is currently focusing on her law studies and planning to compete in the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Lia Thomas’ Net Worth
As of 2022, Lia Thomas’s net worth is quite modest. Swimming competitions don’t earn her much money. If she wins a gold medal at the Olympics, things may change for the best allow her to live a more luxurious lifestyle.
Social Media
Lia Thomas rarely uses social media platforms. She remains quite busy in her daily swimming practice and study routines. However, she has a verified Instagram account with more than 3k followers. To date, she has posted only two photos on her Instagram account.
Lia Thomas Height: Closing Words
Lia Thomas is the first trans women athlete to win the NCAA Division I title. However, many athletes and celebrities her an unfair match, because they believe Lia has stamina and strength similar to a man.
They also think that Lia Thomas height is the main thing behind her performance and she should not compete with normal biological women. Luckily, Thomas has shown great patience for all the controversy around her trans gender situation and has been able to put up with it.
