27 January 2024 , 07:00
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Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas is secretly taking legal action having outlined her goal to compete in the Olympics.
The 24-year-old NCAA national champion has hired Canadian law firm Tyr and took her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland last September, according to The Telegraph. World Aquatics, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, like CAS, knows about the challenge and has already asked the court to dismiss the case. They argue that Thomas is no longer under USA Swimming's jurisdiction as she hasn't submitted to them.
Thomas has openly expressed her desire to compete in the Olympics, but it's reported that her case may not be heard in time for her to try and qualify for the Paris 2024 Games.
"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 told "Good Morning America" just weeks before World Aquatics introduced its own policy in June 2022.
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Thomas, who made history in March 2022 as the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I national championship, hasn't competed since her victory in the women's 500-yard freestyle event.
She revealed on the "SwimSwam Podcast" in December 2021 that she realised she was trans in the summer of 2018 and began transitioning in May 2019 with hormone replacement therapy. Despite this, she continued to swim for UPenn's men's team through the 2019-20 season.
After a year off, Thomas returned to compete for the women's team in 2021-2022. By then, she had met NCAA hormone therapy requirements, having undergone over two years of hormone replacement therapy, including testosterone suppression treatment which led to muscle loss.
However, three months after her historic win, World Aquatics introduced new rules stating transgender women must prove they have not experienced any part of male puberty. They also need to show they suppressed male puberty from a young age and have maintained low testosterone levels.
Lia Thomas was a champion swimmer in college (No credit)Thomas's lawyer, Carlos Sayao, has called these rules "discriminatory" and a "trans ban". Sayao told the Telegraph: "Lia has now had the door closed to her in terms of her future ability to practice her sport and compete at the highest level."
"She's bringing the case for herself and other trans women to ensure that any rules for trans women's participation in sport are fair, proportionate, and grounded in human rights and in science." Sayao claims the rules have caused "profound harm to trans women."
World Aquatics declined to comment on the case, but its executive director, Brent Nowicki, did issue a statement. "The World Aquatics policy on gender inclusion, adopted by World Aquatics in June of 2022, was rigorously developed on the basis of advice from leading medical and legal experts, and in careful consultation with athletes."
"World Aquatics remains confident that its gender inclusion policy represents a fair approach and remains absolutely determined to protect women's sport."
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