The 25-year-old became well-known after winning the highest college title in the US—the women’s NCAA swimming championship—in March 2022.
However, World Aquatics (WA), the body that oversees swimming, changed the rules in the summer of that year, prohibiting anyone who has experienced “any part of male puberty” from competing in the female division.
Thomas was impacted by the regulation change because he had competed for Pennsylvania’s men’s team in swimming for three seasons prior to beginning hormone replacement therapy at the beginning of 2019.
She filed a lawsuit in reaction to the decision, requesting that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) invalidate the regulations on the grounds that they are unconstitutional, discriminatory, and invalid.
But as Thomas was no longer a member of US Swimming, her case was dismissed on a technicality, meaning that she was “simply not entitled to engage with eligibility to compete in WA competitions such as the Olympics or world championships”.
