evidence: Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas speaks out about backlash, future plans to compete [...] Lia Thomas, a transgender woman who generated controversy by competing on the women's swim team at University of Pennsylvania, said she plans to keep swimming, with an eye on the Olympics. [...] Assigned male at birth, Thomas said she fell in love with swimming at age 4, but as she grew older she said she felt increasingly disconnected to her body, explaining, "I didn't feel like I was a boy."