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Lia Thomas is the Ivy League Champion in the 500 free

136 replies

Justme56 · 18/02/2022 09:10

Not only is Lia the champion, but Lia set a new pool record. Lia was, I believe, 7 seconds faster than Catherine Buroker.

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Needmoresleep · 20/02/2022 00:26

www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-10531313/SARAH-VINE-really-telling-burly-swimmer-Lia-Thomas-playing-fair.html

The US media may not be touching the story, but the Mail are not letting go.

ClaudiusTheGod · 19/02/2022 23:01

Oh I see - re Isaac. Sorry!

thinkingaboutLangCleg · 19/02/2022 19:57

sports writers

BettyFilous · 19/02/2022 19:56

Poor Ross Tucker. He sounded totally exasperated in his Science of Sport podcast when the IOC published their updated trans rules (TLDR version: anything goes, have at it fella!) and said he wished the trans sports issue wasn’t taking up so many of his podcasts. However, he seems appalled at the lack of critical thinking, unfairness and the willful blindness of sporting bodies to the mounting evidence base on this. He’s a real friend to women and sport in this. I am so grateful for his steadfast voice in this debate, along with athletes like Sharron Davies and Martina Navratilova. I’m with Ross: I can’t wait for this idiocy to be over so we can get back to tackling other pressing issues.

thinkingaboutLangCleg · 19/02/2022 19:54

@EdithStourton

Lia Thomas should be ashamed of liaself.

Refuse to use 'her'.

Absolutely this.

Shame on Lia Thomas. But also, shame all those sports writer who fawn on LT. They have lost their right to pontificate about sport, because they support cheating.

ATrifleofFun · 19/02/2022 19:52

Quite fascinating to see then, Henig will be forced out of women's competition once he takes testosterone and is unlikely to join the men's team. While Lia continues...

RufustheFloralmissingreindeer · 19/02/2022 19:39

@ClaudiusTheGod

Isaac is legitimately swimming in the woman's race though, as they are not male.

I don’t understand. How are they not male?

They are female

A transman

AlecTrevelyan006 · 19/02/2022 19:39

Isaac is a woman in the processing of transitioning to a (trans)man and is therefore female.

Plasmodesmata · 19/02/2022 19:38

I can't really explain within the rules of this board. I may have already said too much.

ClaudiusTheGod · 19/02/2022 19:35

Isaac is legitimately swimming in the woman's race though, as they are not male.

I don’t understand. How are they not male?

Plasmodesmata · 19/02/2022 19:33

Isaac is legitimately swimming in the woman's race though, as they are not male.

ATrifleofFun · 19/02/2022 19:30

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10524797/Transgender-swimmer-Iszac-Henig-gives-thumbs-setting-pool-record-50-yard-freestyle.html I stand corrected, Henig is FTM, has had surgery but not hormones. All makes it very confusing.

ATrifleofFun · 19/02/2022 19:26

There is a second trans athlete in the same competition, Iszack ?? Can't remember the surname. In the 100m sprint. It flashed on my newsfeed earlier. How long before all the ivy League are sending their second rate male swimmers for medals?

Linguini · 19/02/2022 18:47

@NecessaryScene

But then, doping has been around d for years, so for some people it must just be the winning.

There must be a particular sort of thrill in being able to openly cheat and people not being able to stop you.

... and be able to openly get naked with women in their communal changing and showering areas with no one being able to stop you
SheldonesqueTheBstard · 19/02/2022 18:24

I wonder what kind of person sleeps at night knowing they are damaging the rights of the very people they proclaim to be just like.

Unless they think they are a superior version?

Adam’s rib now has a tail.

and a fucking nerve

Plasmodesmata · 19/02/2022 18:20

OT again sorry - following NoWireHanger's post found this Guardian interview with an ex Russian teenage skater who was also given puberty blockers.
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/mar/20/experience-i-took-hormone-blockers-to-become-an-ice-skating-champion.
The Guardian seems to think that this is not a good thing (obviously).
But yet....

EdithStourton · 19/02/2022 18:13

Lia Thomas should be ashamed of liaself.

Refuse to use 'her'.

Supersimkin2 · 19/02/2022 14:00

If Lia is reading this I apologise for being tactless.

But most people, trans included, would be a bit taken aback because she’s a bloke who looks and acts like a bloke competing in women’s sport. And says they’re trans with zero evidence.

My mate who is a long-standing TW would raise an eyebrow. Most real trans people put an awful lot of specialist effort, cash and energy into changing and maintaining the physical alterations - it’s no joke.

It really is a lot of effort to be trans - some of the surgery is awful - but Thomas clearly isn’t doing any of that. Hmmm.

NoWireHangersEver · 19/02/2022 13:46

Someone made a Kamila Valieva comparison - slightly OT but it might be of interest to you that the three young Russian skaters at Beijing 2022 are being given Lupron to slow their growth! According to a Slate article published a few days ago

EmbarrassingHadrosaurus · 19/02/2022 13:10

@Procrastinator85

Personally, as someone who lurks here but isn't able to be public about this issue, I am all in favour of Lia Thomas continuing her rise to the top.

Sport is the touchstone by which many of my female TWAW friends are starting to question their beliefs, particularly the sporty ones. Once you have got them to accept that TWANW for the purposes of sport, then you can see the light beginning to dawn for them in other areas too.

So well done Lia Thomas - you are doing an excellent job.

Meanwhile, women are losing opportunities, sponsorships, and probably scholarships.

And when TW are getting sponsorships, it's attracting publicity. Who needs the boring sort of women.

All of this will happen despite my frustration but I have no expectation any of this will change. By and large, societies care little about the social and political welfare of women.

InvisibleDragon · 19/02/2022 12:58

I love Ross Tucker's forensic analysis of the data. It's interesting that for people with an expert knowledge of both swimming (Sharron Davies) and sport science (Tucker) can identify specific differences in Lia Thomas's strategy and stroke style that suggest a non-optimised performance.

UsernameIsNotAvailableRightNow · 19/02/2022 12:53

👏

Lia Thomas is the Ivy League Champion in the 500 free
ErrolTheDragon · 19/02/2022 11:50

@Mamajunebugjones

Seems defeatist, but perhaps need to take gender out of sports and make an ‘XX body’ category
Why is that 'defeatist'? Confused 'Gender' should never have been allowed to be substituted for sex in the first place. There is absolutely no justification for 'gender' categories. And in fact, when it comes to 'nonbinary' athletes - who would be excluded if the 2 categories actually were masculine and feminine 'gendered' - they seem afaik to sensibly adhere to the common understanding that they need to compete in the correct sex category.
littlebilliie · 19/02/2022 11:24

@DorothyZbornakIsAQueen

It's an absolute travesty.

Congratulations to Catherine Buroker. Rightful winner!!!

This
SamphiretheStickerist · 19/02/2022 11:14

I had the same hopes for the summer Olympics. But that died a death because the competitor seemed to throw the lifts. Made a total mockery of the sport but didn't get much airtime, no podium pictures. So nobody really spoke about it...