The University of Pennsylvania has nominated transgender swimmer Lia Thomas for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award, the American college sports regulating body said.
The award acknowledges female student-athletes who have defined themselves in their communities, athletics, and academics, according to the NCAA’s website.
RELATED:Lia Thomas Officially Banned From Competing Against Women
“As 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the NCAA Woman of the Year program is an important opportunity to honor and reflect on the impact of women on intercollegiate sports,” the NCAA wrote in a press release.
As we previously reported, Thomas, a former swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania, won the 500-yard freestyle event at the 2022 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in March. Thomas’ role in college women’s swimming has brought on a major national debate. Riley Gaines, a swimmer at the University of Kentucky who tied with Lia Thomas for fifth place at the NCAA swimming championships in March, said that a majority of female athletes aren’t okay with the trajectory of female sports.
“The majority of us female athletes, or females in general, really, are not okay with this, and they’re not okay with the trajectory of this and how this is going and how it could end up in a few years,” Gaines said on the “Unmuted with Marsha” podcast with Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.
Caitlyn Jenner, a transgender activist also spoke publicly about the backlash as well calling Thomas’ participation in the women’s division “one of the worst things to happen to the trans community.”
It isn’t ‘inclusion’ that leads the Ivy League to pull stunts like this.
It’s misogyny – and utter contempt for the truth.https://t.co/AcxZ8WWWD4
— Abigail Shrier (@AbigailShrier) July 16, 2022
Lia Thomas being nominated for NCAA Woman Of The Year at UPenn is the biggest slap in the face to every female competitive swimmer that ever trained their ass off to make a team and to win a race. Lia Thomas can fuck off.
— 🏳️🌈 (@PERFECTSWEETlE) July 16, 2022
“I knew there would be scrutiny against me if I competed as a woman, and I was prepared for that,” the 22-year-old Texan told “Good Morning America” in her first TV interview about the controversy sparked by her record-breaking performances in the pool.
“I intend to keep swimming … 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,” she said.
#Socialites how are we feeling about this?