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With the NCAA Women’s Championships scheduled to begin on Wednesday in Atlanta, here is another look at the psych sheets for the competition. The only swimmer to earn the No. 1 seed in three individual events is Stanford freshman Regan Smith, who leads the way in the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke and 200 butterfly. Smith will go for the grueling 200 back-200 fly double on the final day of the meet, and she looks to be in strong form as she barely missed her own American record in the 100 back by just seven hundredths at the Pac-12 Championships.
The NCAA psych sheet includes Penn’s Lia Thomas, a transgender female swimmer who has been the subject of controversy this season as those around the sport have debated the fairness of her competing against cisgender females. Thomas ranks first in the nation entering the meet in the 200 and 500 freestyle, and she is 10th in the 100 free.
NCAA Championships: Wednesday, March 16
- 200 Medley Relay: Virginia, 1:31.81
- 800 Freestyle Relay: Stanford, 6:50.21
NCAA Championships: Thursday, March 17
- 500 Freestyle: Lia Thomas (Penn), 4:34.06
- 200 IM: Alex Walsh (Virginia), 1:52.38
- 50 Freestyle: Kate Douglass (Virginia), 21.00
- 200 Freestyle Relay: Virginia, 1:24.47
NCAA Championships: Friday, March 18
- 400 IM: Brooke Forde (Stanford), 4:00.76
- 100 Butterfly: Torri Huske (Stanford), 49.43
- 200 Freestyle: Lia Thomas (Penn), 1:41.93
- 100 Breaststroke: Sophie Hansson (NC State), 56.72
- 100 Backstroke: Regan Smith (Stanford), 49.23
- 400 Medley Relay: Virginia, 3:22.34
NCAA Championships: Saturday, March 19
- 1650 Freestyle: Kristen Stege (Tennessee), 15:42.37
- 200 Backstroke: Regan Smith (Stanford), 1:48.91
- 100 Freestyle: Gretchen Walsh (Virginia), 46.86
- 200 Breaststroke: Kate Douglass (Virginia), 2:03.14
- 200 Butterfly: Regan Smith (Stanford), 1:50.99
- 400 Freestyle Relay: Virginia, 3:08.22
William “Lia” Thomas should not be in any women’s swimming event.
This competition is a joke if a man is allowed to compete as a woman. We are not defined by our hormones, we are defined by our chromosomes. I would be a drug cheat if I loaded up on male hormones in an effort to improve performance. Duh.
Whats going on with the NCAA?? so what sports will be ruined next lets see …Tennis Track and field ,Volleyball….any chance that when he goes up to swim the other women in his heat will have the iintestinal fortitude to step down off the blocks ?
It is wrong that Lia Thomas is swimming in this meet. At least one woman is not swimming that deserves to be because Lia was invited instead of her. Between 1 and 6 women are likely to lose the chance to swim in finals or consolation finals because he is swimming. It’s even possible that allowing him to swim significantly affects the outcome of the meet. Some NCAA meets do go down to the 4 x 100 and are decided by fewer points than Lia is likely to score. It will clearly affect where Penn places and that changes where some other teams place.
But, life’s often not fair, but one of the life lessons from swimming is that you can always go and do your best no matter what the circumstances. The women entered in the 100, 200 and 500 should get up on the blocks and swim their best races. Because no one can ever take away your best effort.
The fact that the NCAA is allowing a 6′ 4″ man at the women’s NCAA Championship is just plain unbelievable. All I can do is shake my head in disbelief.
Lia Thomas’ body has been fueled and structured daily from birth to adulthood with ca. 30 times the male hormones and testosterone compared with a cisgender female. this cannot be overcome by a temporary suppression of testosterone because the male structure of 20 years of being supercharged remains. Liberals say there is no difference between male and female. Compare the more than 50 male entries vs Thomas’ seed times for the 200 and 500 and you will find that the slowest male is considerably faster than Thomas. In other words, Thomas would be dead last vs the men but is seeded first vs the women. The NCAA should be ashamed. If this is permitted we could see encouragement in the future for an avalanche of males to invade women’s sports and witness the demise of the hard earned gains of Title 9. I will be very angry if a biological man displaces Katie Ledecky in qualifying to defend her gold medals at the World Championships and/or the 2024 Olympic games. Also, please note that the Penn administration permitted Lia to undress and shower with the 35 girls on the team in spite of their strong protestations. This, in my opinion, is insanity.