The transgender swimmer Lia Thomas has been nominated by the University of Pennsylvania for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award, according to the regulating body of American college sports, with critics slamming this announcement on social media as soon as it came out, most people claiming it is ridiculous and that a “real woman” should win the “woman of the year” award.
When Thomas triumphed in the women’s 500-yard freestyle competition a few months ago, he made headlines and became the first transgender NCAA champion in Division I history.
The champion soon became the center of a heated scandal when FINA (International Swimming Federation) voted to limit the participation of transgender people in elite women’s competitions.
Thomas was competing for Pennsylvania’s men’s team for years before switching to the women’s team and breaking numerous program records. His eligibility has been questioned on numerous occasions by many people and her Penn teammates.
Five hundred seventy-seven graduating student-athletes were nominated by member schools, according to the NCAA. In Division I, each school is allowed to honor up to two female athletes, and Thomas was one of them, meaning a REAL WOMAN lost her chance to be nominated.
Ten students from each of the three NCAA divisions will be selected by the Woman of the Year selection committee. At the end of the process, the committee will announce three finalists from each Division. The winner will be announced at the January NCAA Convention that will take place in San Antonio.
In a previous story revolving around Lia Thomas, the general public isn’t the only group of people outraged by this nonsense. A fellow swimmer, who’s a real female, also spoke out.
A senior at the University of Kentucky, named Riley Gaines, competed in the women’s 200 freestyle at the NCAA Division I Women’s Championships. At the end of the race, as he touched the wall, Gaines looked up and realized the board said that he had placed fifth, which put her in the top five collegiate female swimmers in the nation. But shortly after, he realized he’d tied with transgender athlete Lia Thomas, a biological man who identifies as a woman.
At that moment she was overcome by a flood of emotions, Gaines said. Happy for her competitors but bewildered, he went back behind the podium where NCAA officials were distributing the awards.
The man who was handing out the trophies in an NCAA shirt told her: “Hey, I just want to let you know, we only have one fifth-place trophy, so yours will be coming in the mail. We went ahead and gave the fifth-place trophy to Lia, but you can pose on the podium with the sixth-place trophy.”
“It was a bit disheartening. It really was. I left the pool with no trophy. Not a big deal, but it was the goal that I had set all year,” he added.
The University of Kentucky swimmer was not the only one who was upset, she said, her athletic director was pretty upset that he had to leave the pool without her trophy.
“The more I thought about it, the more it fired me up. It’s almost like the NCAA is trying to save face by giving Lia the fifth-place trophy,” she said. “Who are we trying to protect here? And who are we trying to fight for here?” she questioned.
EDITOR’S NOTE: this is insulting to real women and we do not support nor identify Lia Thomas as a woman. We do not go along with people’s fairy tale stories of choosing their own pronouns either. That is a false lie and we are not bending to the stupidity of it. Lia Thomas is a man and should not be allowed to compete against women. This is getting out of hand and people with common sense know this.
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