Honestly with Bari Weiss

Watching Lia Thomas Win

Mar 6, 2022

Lia Thomas, a groundbreaking transgender swimmer from the University of Pennsylvania, has skyrocketed from being ranked 462nd in men's swimming to leading women's competitions. She discusses the exhilaration of breaking Ivy League records and her ambitions for the 2024 Summer Olympics. The conversation dives into the heated debates surrounding fairness in women's sports amid her success. Lia shares personal insights on navigating public scrutiny and the emotional challenges faced by athletes in the context of gender identity.

26:38

Episode guests

Lia Thomas

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Intro

6min

Controversy and Celebration at the Ivy League Championship

4min

The Controversy of Competitive Fairness in Swimming

2min

The Leah Thomas Controversy

12min

The Emotional Toll of Competition in Women's Sports

3min

Lia Thomas is a transgender woman who has, in one year, become the star athlete of the women’s swim team at The University of Pennsylvania. When she competed on the men’s team, she was seeded no. 462 in the NCAA. Now, she’s seeded No. 1 and expected to beat Olympic gold medalist Katy Ledecky, widely considered one of the greatest female swimmers of all time, later this month at the NCAA championship.

Thomas won’t stop there. She recently told Sports Illustrated that she has her sights set on the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

What does the rise of Lia Thomas mean for the future of women’s sports? Suzy Weiss reports from the Harvard pool, where Lia Thomas recently smashed Ivy League records.

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