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Lia Thomas is set to launch legal action against World Aquatics as the American swimmer bids to compete again in elite female sport.
Thomas, who is transgender, has been unable to do so since a ruling by swimming’s governing body two years ago that blocked transgender female athletes from competing in the women’s elite capacity if they had been through any part of the male puberty process.
Until then, athletes had been permitted to compete provided they lowered their testosterone levels.
It has now been widely reported that Thomas has engaged lawyers to challenge the ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).
The Telegraph suggest that Thomas could be unable to do so, though, as she is not currently a registered athlete with US Swimming, which may mean Cas will not agree to hear the case.
The 25-year-old became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I national championship in any sport when she took 500-yard freestyle gold in 2022.
She began swimming on the men’s team at the University of Pennsylvannia in 2017, before she began transitioning two years later.
The NCAA championship in 2022 remains Thomas’s last competitive meet, and she has not commented on the reports of her legal challenge.
Lia Thomas has previously suggested a desire to challenge for a place at the Olympics
(Getty Images)
In 2022, she indicated a desire to compete in trials for the Paris 2024 Olympics, telling ESPN that “it has been incredibly rewarding and meaningful to be able to be authentic and to be myself”.
A number of sporting bodies have blocked transgender, male-to-female athletes from participating in elite female sport, including cycling and athletics.
In a statement issued to BBC Sport, Brent Nowicki, the executive director of World Aquatics, said: “[Our] 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.
Lia Thomas is currently unable to compete in swimming’s women’s elite category
(Getty Images)
“World Aquatics remains confident that its gender inclusion policy represents a fair approach, and remains absolutely determined to protect women’s sport.”
World Aquatics, formerly known as Fina, shelved plans to launch an open category at its Swimming World Cup event in Berlin late last year after no athletes entered. The body said it still planned to offer the category at future events.
