CAMBRIDGE, MA - FEBRUARY 17: University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas smiles on the podium after winning the 500 freestyle during the 2022 Ivy League Womens Swimming and Diving Championships at Blodgett Pool on February 17, 2022 in Cambridge, Ma CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - There isn’t much to indicate anything other than a typical college swim meet is taking place this week at Harvard University’s Blodgett Pool.No demonstrations or protests outside the building.
But there is evidence of the discussion surrounding the sport during the past year.An "8 Against Hate" sign is displayed above the pool between flags representing each of the schools competing in the Ivy League women’s swimming championship.
Athletes from several schools also wore shirts featuring the statement.There’s also the public address announcement made before every session that reminds spectators the conference is committed to putting on an event "free of racist, homophobic or transphobic discrimination."For Lia Thomas and Iszac Henig, it’s an example of the environment that has surrounded both for more than a year as they’ve sought to showcase their talents and compete at the sport’s highest level.Their personal journeys and participation in the Ivy championships are the latest in an ongoing national conversation about the rules that govern the participation of transgender athletes in college athletics.Both Thomas, a senior at the University of Pennsylvania, and Henig, a junior at Yale University, are transgender.Thomas is a transgender woman and former male swimmer for the Quakers, and has followed the NCAA and Ivy League’s rules since she began her transition in 2019 by starting hormone replacement therapy.