Leah Thomas
illustrated sports
University of Pennsylvania swimmer Leah Thomas has revealed her determination to continue swimming, even after facing resistance from other athletes.
In an exclusive interview with Sports Illustrated for their April issue (released March 24), the 22-year-old detailed her state of mind before moving transsexual, moving from the men’s to the women’s swimming team and breaking records.
Before leaving, Thomas said she began thinking about her gender identity toward the end of high school. And although she had joined the family, her struggle with sexual dysphoria became so persistent in her second year at Penn that it began to affect her daily life.
Instead of enjoying the glory of the successful 2018-19 season, when she was selected to the All-Ivy swimming team, she recalled: “I was very depressed. I got to the point where I couldn’t go to school. there were no lessons. My sleep schedule was super messed up. Some days I couldn’t get out of bed. “
She said: “At that moment, I knew I had to do something to deal with it.”
Over time, she told SI: “I tried my best to get close to close friends, several coaches. But in this depressed, very struggling state of mind, it’s hard to make progress when so much of my energy has been trying to survive every day. “
Leah Thomas
illustrated sports
She started hormone replacement therapy in May 2019, adapting to the changing body, when she began the formal process of moving to the women’s team and began to accept that her achievements in the men’s team are from “a different moment in my life.”
After a one-year hiatus due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on collegiate athletics, she joined Penn’s women’s team in late summer 2021.
The change had made her feel “revived.” Others were not so excited.
Although Thomas had followed protocol, the transfer created a division in the team – not to mention the media and college athletics.
The story continues
CONNECTED: 16 Pen. Swimmers say trans teammate Leah Thomas shouldn’t compete: she has an “unfair advantage”
Leah Thomas
illustrated sports
This month alone, 16 members of the Women’s Swimming Team at the University of Pennsylvania wrote an anonymous open letter expressing their belief that Thomas should not be allowed to compete.
The letter urges school and Ivy League officials not to take legal action against NCAA’s recently updated transgender policy, according to The Washington Post.
It is reported that the new decision will potentially prevent Thomas from competing in the NCAA Championship next month.
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This year, Pennsylvania introduced HB 972, also known as the Women’s Sports Rescue Act, which encourages students to play in a gender-appropriate team at birth. Thomas previously spoke about the impact of such legislation in an interview with Penn Today.
“One of my biggest worries about trance people is feeling alone,” said Thomas, co-chair of Penn Non-Cis, an organization that provides a community for trance and non-binary people. “Even if you don’t pay attention to the news.” [about] states that propose and pass vicious anti-trance legislation can feel very lonely and overwhelming. “
“I’m a woman, just like everyone else on the team,” Thomas added in an interview with SI. “I’ve always looked at myself as a swimmer. That’s what I’ve done for so long; that’s what I love. I go into the water every day and do my best.”
CONNECTED: Swimmer Leah Thomas, who is transgender, continues to break records for women
Leah Thomas
illustrated sports
Looking ahead, Thomas admitted: “I don’t know exactly what the future will look like … after this year” – maybe even include swimming for the US team at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
She hopes that by competing, she can open the door to other translators. “I just want to show trance kids and younger trance athletes that they are not alone,” she confirmed. “They don’t have to choose between who they are and the sport they love.”
And whatever her racing career, Thomas is sure of one thing: “I want to swim and compete the way I am.”