evidence: Lia Thomas’ legal battle to compete in the Olympics: the first trans athlete to win an NCAA title, the former UPenn swimmer faced backlash – but still advocates for the LGBT community - Thomas, formerly part of the University of Pennsylvania’s swim team, is trying to take World Aquatics to court over its rules change preventing her from competing in swimming as a transgender woman - She has courted the criticism of long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad, her former teammate Paula Scanlan, and parents of her Ivy League teammates issued a complaint letter picked up by the media [...] Lia Thomas’ fight to compete Per The Guardian, Thomas has not competed since new rules introduced by World Aquatics in 2022 prohibited anyone who has undergone "any part of male puberty" from the female category. Before the new rules, transgender women had been allowed to compete so long as their testosterone levels were lowered. But World Aquatics claims Thomas, and other swimmers like her, have retained significant physical advantages from "undergoing male puberty".