The controversy, which again raises the delicate question of the place of transgender athletes, has already prompted the NCAA, the organization governing university sport, then USA Swimmings, the American swimming federation, to promise new regulations.

All this against the background of an offensive by conservative politicians.

"We will prohibit men from participating in women's competitions", launched Donald Trump, on January 15, during a meeting in Arizona.

Without naming her, but calling her masculine, the former president then pointed to Lia Thomas, a 22-year-old student at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the women's swim team since September 2021, after competing in boys .

Former US President Donald Trump at a meeting in Arizona on January 15, 2022 Robyn Beck AFP / Archives

"Overperforming"?

In one of her rare interviews, on the "TheSwimSwam" podcast, she explains that she realized she was "trans" in the summer of 2018 but first wanted to continue swimming for men.

"It caused me a lot of distress (...). I was no longer able to concentrate on swimming, on studies, on my friends," she said.

She began her transition in May 2019, with hormonal treatment.

Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer from the University of Pennsylvania, during a competition against Harvard University, in Cambridge (Massachusetts), January 22, 2022 Joseph Prezioso AFP

For her first season among women, Lia is a hit.

At the beginning of December, in Akron (Ohio), she achieved the best performance of the year over 200 yards (183 meters) free (1 min 41 sec 93 ") and over 500 yards (457 meters) free (4 min 34 sec 06 " ).

Saturday at Harvard (Cambridge, Massachusetts), she shone again by winning the 100 and 200 free yards.

The student abides by NCAA rules, which allow transgender women to compete after undergoing testosterone suppression treatment for at least a year.

Not enough for some, especially in a power sport like swimming, because her transition started after puberty.

"Lia is over-performing in women's events," wrote the Women's sports policy working group, which claims to defend women's sport, in a letter to the NCAA.

Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer from the University of Pennsylvania, during a confrontation against Harvard University, in Cambridge (Massachusetts), January 22, 2022 Joseph Prezioso AFP

It is based on a study, not yet published in a scientific journal, which reviewed the times of the swimmer.

"His post-transition times to date (...) remain too close to his best pre-transition times in men's events, compared to the performance gap between male and female athletes" in college sport, adds the group, which includes in its ranks the former quadruple Olympic medalist in swimming (Los Angeles, 1984), Nancy Hogshead-Makar.

- Discrimination -

But for its defenders, the controversy is just one more proof of the discrimination suffered by transgender people.

“(Lia) Thomas is simply an athlete who loves her sport, trains hard and meets all the requirements to swim competitively. Despite this, she is the victim of violent rhetoric,” lamented the group Athlete Ally.

The subject is divisive in the United States, where several conservative states – ten according to Athlete Ally – have passed laws to block the way of young transgender girls to women's sports in school.

Five months after the first participation in the Summer Olympics of a transgender sportswoman, in weightlifting, the question remains a headache for sports institutions.

In November, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) passed the buck to each sport, pointing to the lack of "scientific consensus on the role of testosterone in performance across all sports".

Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer from the University of Pennsylvania, warming up during a competition against Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts Joseph Prezioso AFP

The NCAA took up this differentiated approach on Thursday, while mentioning the application of testosterone thresholds.

The international athletics federation (World Athletics) imposes such thresholds (since 2019, less than 5 nmol / l for twelve months), and it is on this basis that the transgender athlete CeCe Telfer had been excluded from the Olympic selections, in June 2021.

For its part, the University of Pennsylvania has renewed its support for Lia Thomas, in particular with a view to the next NCAA championships in March, the flagship event of the university season.

If she qualifies, she could once again compete against Izzi Henig, a transgender Yale student who has decided not to take hormone treatments and continues to compete for women.

On January 8, a first confrontation on 100 free yards had turned to the advantage of Izzi Henig.

© 2022 AFP