<ul class="summary-list"><li>The 2022 <keyword id="11932023" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ncaa" source="Orion">NCAA</keyword> <keyword id="11915266" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="swimming" source="Orion">Swimming</keyword> Championships have received outsized attention.</li><li>Penn's <keyword id="12989845" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="lia-thomas" source="Orion">Lia Thomas</keyword>, a trans woman, has been at the center of the debate over trans athlete inclusion.</li></ul><p>University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas has been thrust into the center of a nationwide debate over the fairness of transgender athletes competing in <keyword id="11896034" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="womens-sports" source="Orion">women's sports</keyword>.</p><p>The three-time Ivy League champion <a href="https://www.insider.com/trans-swimmer-lia-thomas-beats-olympic-medalists-wins-ncaa-title-2022-3">won the 500-yard freestyle race</a> at NCAA Championships Thursday, beating out two Olympic silver medalists to become the first known transgender athlete to win an NCAA title. But as <a href="https://www.insider.com/lia-thomas-anti-trans-protesters-ncaa-swimming-championships-2022-3?inline-endstory-related-recommendations=">protesters seeking to "save women's sports"</a> gathered outside of Georgia Tech's McAuley Aquatic Center with their attention focused on Thomas, another transgender swimmer was busy preparing for his own race inside.</p><div type="image" title="Iszac Henig at a February 2022 meet." height="1666" width="2222" msid="90314398" hostid="261"></div><p><keyword id="13413433" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="iszac-henig" source="Orion">Iszac Henig</keyword> — a Yale Bulldogs junior who is a trans man — offered a powerful, timely message for anyone paying attention to his women's 50-yard freestyle race Thursday evening.</p><p>"Let trans kids play."</p><p>Henig, who has delayed his hormonal transition so he could finish out his collegiate career competing on the women's side of the pool, inked the four-word note on his arm ahead of his first of three events at the 2022 NCAA Swimming &amp; Diving Championships. Fans and cameras alike caught a glimpse as he dove into the pool for the one-lap race:</p><div type="image" title="Henig dives into the pool." height="1667" width="2500" msid="90314399" hostid="261"></div><p>Henig's message — and the backlash Thomas has faced — comes as legislators across the United States introduce <a href="https://freedomforallamericans.org/legislative-tracker/student-athletics/">bills intended to exclude transgender people</a> from athletic competitions at all levels, including as early as grade school.</p><p>The Yalie wasn't the only person supporting Thomas' and other trans women's rights to compete during the first day of championships. While there were more people on hand rallying against the cause, roughly a dozen counter-protestors gathered on Georgia Tech's campus Thursday in support of the Penn star and other trans athletes, <a href="https://go.skimresources.com/?id=35871X1550380&amp;isjs=1&amp;jv=15.2.4-stackpath&amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.insider.com%2Flia-thomas-anti-trans-protesters-ncaa-swimming-championships-2022-3&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.espn.com%2Fcollege-sports%2Fstory%2F_%2Fid%2F33526300%2Flia-thomas-qualifies-first-500-freestyle-ncaa-championships-small-crowd-protests-swimmer-event&amp;xs=1&amp;xtz=240&amp;xuuid=db54262a7a2a837d93d95e73f43d54e7&amp;xjsf=other_click__contextmenu%20%5B2%5D">ESPN's Katie Barnes reported</a>.</p><p>Thomas has two additional events remaining on her <a href="https://ramblinwreck.com/2022-ncaa-division-i-womens-swimming-diving-championships/">schedule at NCAA Championships</a>. She'll compete in Friday's 200-yard freestyle event — where she is the favorite — as well as Saturday's 100-yard freestyle race. She won Ivy League championships in both events, as well as the 500-yard freestyle.</p><p>Henig, meanwhile, will compete in Friday's 100-yard butterfly. He's also set to face off against Thomas in Saturday's 100-yard freestyle.</p>

Another trans swimmer at NCAA Championships wrote a message of support for Lia Thomas on his arm ahead of a race

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The University of Pennsylvania hosted a swim meet featuring two trans competitors on the women's side.</li><li>Yale's Iszac Henig and Penn's Lia Thomas faced off in a closely-watched 100-yard freestyle event.</li></ul><p><keyword id="12932804" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="transgender-athletes" source="Orion">Transgender athletes</keyword>' participation in <keyword id="11896034" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="womens-sports" source="Orion">women's sports</keyword> has been the hot-button issue of hot-button issues in recent years.</p><p>But for all of the arguments over whether it's fair for trans athletes to compete in women's sporting events, there are scant concrete examples available for either side to cite.</p><p>This weekend, an <keyword id="11956250" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ivy-league" source="Orion">Ivy League</keyword> swim meet received outsized attention for providing just that. Two trans swimmers — the University of Pennsylvania's Lia Thomas and Yale's Iszac Henig — faced off head-to-head, and the results challenged many transphobic talking points used to argue against their participation.</p><div type="image" title="Lia Thomas (center) prepares for a race." height="1667" width="2500" msid="88841519" hostid="261"></div><p>In a <a href="https://yalebulldogs.com/documents/2022/1/8/penn_yale_darmouth.pdf">closely-watched 100-yard freestyle event</a>, Henig — who identifies as a man but has not yet undertaken a hormonal transition — finished first and bested the next-fastest swimmer by more than one and a half seconds. But Thomas, who has been at the center of controversy in recent weeks for her perceived biological advantage, touched the wall 3.27 seconds after Henig to take sixth place in the race.</p><p>In other words, the notion that trans women will indubitably dominate any women's sporting event they compete in doesn't hold up. At least, it didn't in this instance.</p><div type="image" title="Lia Thomas participates in an Ivy League swim meet." height="1693" width="2500" msid="88841521" hostid="261"></div><p>For the first three years of her college <keyword id="11915266" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="swimming" source="Orion">swimming</keyword> career, Thomas competed for the Quakers' men's swimming team, <a href="https://swimswam.com/ivy-league-releases-statement-in-support-of-lia-thomas/">according to SwimSwam</a>. But after coming out as a trans woman, the Austin, Texas native spent two years transitioning and working with the <keyword id="11932023" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ncaa" source="Orion">NCAA</keyword> and Ivy League to comply with rules that would allow her to compete in women's competitions.</p><p>The NCAA requires trans women to complete at least "one calendar year of testosterone suppression treatment" before competing in women's events, according to the association's <a href="https://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/ncaa-transgender-policy-background-resources">policies for transgender participation</a>. Though Thomas has fulfilled that prerequisite, many scrutinized her participation in women's events due to <a href="https://www.outsports.com/trans/2021/12/6/22818258/lia-thomas-ncaa-swimming-penn-ivy-records-trans-swimmer">her recent dominance in the pool</a>.</p><p>Just this week, the Ivy League needed to issue a statement of support for Thomas after calls for her exclusion from competition reached a fever pitch. In an Instagram post published January 7, the conference reiterated its "unwavering commitment to providing an inclusive environment for all student-athletes while condemning transphobia and discrimination in any form."</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px); data.width~540;"><div style="padding:8px;"><div style="background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:62.4537037037% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"><div style="background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div><p style="margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CYZlTB8OMoO" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank"></a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by The Ivy League (@ivyleague)<time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime=""></time></p></div></blockquote><p>But on Saturday, Thomas struggled in her race against Henig. The Bulldogs junior freestyle and butterfly specialist is also trans, but unlike Thomas, he has not switched over to the competition that more closely aligns with his gender identity.</p><p>Instead, Henig has chosen to continue competing with Yale's women's team — as he's done since arriving in New Haven in 2018. Though he's gotten top surgery, Henig's put off hormone treatment to comply with NCAA regulations.</p><p>But the delay has decidedly put him "in a weird position," as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/06/26/opinion/pride-2021-covid-coming-out.html?smtyp=cur&amp;smid=tw-nytopinion">he wrote in The New York Times</a> last June.</p><p>"As a student-athlete, coming out as a trans guy put me in a weird position," Henig wrote. "I could start hormones to align more with myself, or wait, transition socially, and keep competing on a women's swim team. I decided on the latter."</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px); data.width~540;"><div style="padding:8px;"><div style="background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:62.4537037037% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"><div style="background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div><p style="margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUfXxmtrcjH" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank"></a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Iszac (@iszac.henig)<time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime=""></time></p></div></blockquote><p>"I value my contributions to the team and recognize that my boyhood doesn't hinge on whether there's more or less testosterone running through my veins," he added. "At least, that's what I'll try to remember when I put on the women's swimsuit for competition and am reminded of a self I no longer feel attached to."</p><p>Despite the added challenge, Henig has done well for himself in the pool this year. In addition to his 100-yard freestyle victory over Thomas and others, Henig won the 50-yard free on Saturday and broke a 32-year pool record in the process.</p><p>And aside from her sixth-place finish, Thomas had a successful showing Saturday as well. On her Senior Day, Thomas won the 200-yard free by nearly two seconds and narrowly beat a teammate for first in the 500-yard free.</p>

Trans swimmers faced off in an Ivy League meet, and the results upended transphobic arguments against their participation

<ul class="summary-list"><li>On Tuesday, Gov. <keyword id="11913103" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ron-desantis" source="Orion">Ron DeSantis</keyword> tweeted a statement refuting transgender swimmer <keyword id="12989845" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="lia-thomas" source="Orion">Lia Thomas</keyword>' recent NCAA win.</li><li>DeSantis declared second-placed swimmer Emma Weyant the "rightful winner."</li></ul><p>Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has waded into the debate sparked by <a href="https://www.insider.com/trans-swimmer-lia-thomas-why-she-belongs-penn-womens-team-2022-3">transgender Penn swimmer Lia Thomas'</a> recent win at the NCAA championships. </p><p>In a <a href="https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1506315576674865153?s=20&amp;t=FYU6v6z7eSzwLX86f2ezZw">statement</a> uploaded to Twitter on Tuesday, the governor said he was declaring the second-placed University of Virginia swimmer <a href="https://www.teamusa.org/usa-swimming/athletes/Emma-Weyant">Emma Weyant</a> the "rightful winner" of Thursday's 500-yard women's freestyle event. </p><p>Weyant, an Olympic silver medalist, <a href="https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1504608440219582471?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1504608440219582471%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.insider.com%2Ftrans-swimmer-lia-thomas-beats-olympic-medalists-wins-ncaa-title-2022-3">finished more than a second behind Thomas</a>, who <a href="https://www.insider.com/trans-swimmer-lia-thomas-beats-olympic-medalists-wins-ncaa-title-2022-3">made history by becoming the NCAA's first-ever transgender champion in Division I swimming.</a></p><p>"It is my determination that men should not be competing against women such as Emma Weyant, robbing women and girls of achievements, awards, and scholarships," DeSantis wrote, referring to Thomas as a "male identifying as a woman."</p><p>He then accused the NCAA of making "efforts to destroy women's athletics" and expressed his disapproval of the "NCAA elevating ideology over biology." </p><p>DeSantis then declared Weyant, who is a Floridian, the "rightful winner of the 2022 NCAA Division 1 Women's 500-yard freestyle." </p><p>"By allowing men to compete in women's sports, the NCAA is destroying opportunities for women, making a mockery of its championships, and perpetuating a fraud," DeSantis said in his tweet alongside the statement.</p><p>"In Florida, we reject these lies and recognize Sarasota's Emma Weyant as the best women's swimmer in the 500y freestyle," DeSantis added. </p><p>Thomas had competed on the University of Pennsylvania's men's swimming team for three years before transitioning. She began <a href="https://www.insider.com/caitlyn-jenner-says-trans-swimmer-lia-thomas-competing-women-unfair-2022-1">competing on the college's women's team in 2020.</a></p><p>After <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/sports/sporting-scene/how-one-swimmer-became-the-focus-of-a-debate-about-trans-athletes">posting a series of record-breaking times</a>, Thomas <a href="https://www.insider.com/lia-thomas-teammates-oppose-trans-swimmer-on-womens-team-2022-3">received pushback from her Penn teammates </a>and <a href="https://www.insider.com/lia-thomas-anti-trans-protesters-ncaa-swimming-championships-2022-3">faced anti-trans protests at swim meets.</a></p><p>However, she has also received heartwarming messages of support from other swimmers, including <a href="https://www.insider.com/olympian-erica-sullivan-proud-to-support-trans-athletes-lia-thomas-2022-3">Erica Sullivan</a>, the Olympic silver medalist who placed third after Thomas and Weyant in last week's event, and Yale swimmer <a href="https://www.insider.com/ncaa-championships-swimmer-trans-message-arm-iszac-henig-2022-3">Iszac Henig</a>, who is a transgender man. </p><p>Thomas has <a href="https://www.insider.com/trans-swimmer-lia-thomas-olympics-after-penn-college-career-2022-3">expressed her interest in competing beyond the college circuit</a> and is eyeing the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. </p>

You Searched For "iszac henig" and got 3 results

Another trans swimmer at NCAA Championships wrote a message of support for Lia Thomas on his arm ahead of a race

Meredith Cash

Trans swimmers faced off in an Ivy League meet, and the results upended transphobic arguments against their participation

Meredith Cash

Ron DeSantis refuses to recognize trans swimmer Lia Thomas' NCAA win, declares second-placed Emma Weyant as the 'rightful winner'

Cheryl Teh