Penn swimmer Lia Thomas wants to show trans kids they 'don't have to choose between who they are and the sport they love'

• Lia Thomas wants to inspire transgender kids to stay in athletics, she said in an SI feature.
• The Penn swimmer competed on the men's side before transitioning and joining the women's team.

Lia Thomas wants to inspire transgender kids to continue competing in athletics, even when the world around them is hostile towards their participation.

The University of Pennsylvania swimmer — who spent three years on the school's men's team, took a year away from competition while taking hormones, and re-entered the pool on the women's side — has been the subject of fervent nationwide debate as she dominated her competition throughout the season and punched her ticket to the upcoming NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships.

But Thomas insists that she doesn't "look into the negativity and the hate" because she's simply "here to swim."

In a feature for Sports Illustrated, Thomas told author Robert Sanchez her main goal is to help other trans folks — particularly young ones — feel supported in athletics.

"I just want to show trans kids and younger trans athletes that they're not alone," she said. "They don't have to choose between who they are and the sport they love."

Thomas is leading by example. Despite pushback from right-wing media, seveal prominent voices in the swimming world, and even some of her own teammates, the Ivy League champion in the 100-, 200-, and 500-meter free has dived head-first into the competition with little regard for the naysayers.

To her, it's blatantly clear that she's swimming where she belongs.

"The very simple answer is that I'm not a man," Thomas told Sports Illustrated. "I'm a woman, so I belong on the women's team. Trans people deserve that same respect every other athlete gets."

"I'm a woman, just like anybody else on the team," she added. "I've always viewed myself as just a swimmer. It's what I've done for so long; it's what I love."

She hopes other trans athletes are afforded the same opportunities to participate in the competitions that align with their gender identity. But across the country, legislators are taking aim at trans youth in athletics under the guise of protecting women's sports.

"Every single person who wrote every single one of these bills — none of those people have been in a locker room," US soccer star Megan Rapinoe told Insider in March 2021. "None of those people have played on a women's sports team."

"I have," she added. "I've been in a locker room with a trans person... Nobody cares."

But Thomas has faced adversity within her team's ranks at Penn. A source told Sports Illustrated that "Thomas has six to eight adamant supporters, maybe half the team opposes her competing against other women, and the rest have steered clear of the debate."

Still, she's swum on. The 22-year-old is set to compete alongside two Quakers teammates at the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships in Georgia March 16-19.

Thomas will race in all three events in which she won the Ivy League championship.