Bad news for Lia Thomas: The Trump administration wants the NCAA to claw back the transgender swimmer’s women’s collegiate crown.
The Department of Education fired off a letter Tuesday to the NCAA and the National Federation of State High School Associations asking them to restore awards, honors and titles “misappropriated by biological males competing in female categories.”
The department referred to President Trump’s Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports executive order signed Feb. 5 barring male-born athletes from girls’ and women’s scholastic sports.
A day later, NCAA President Charlie Baker announced that the board of governors had voted to limit women’s athletics to students “assigned female at birth only” effective immediately.
“Because of President Trump’s bold leadership, men will no longer be allowed to compete in women’s sports regardless of how they identify, and the NCAA has correctly changed its tune on its discriminatory practices against female athletes,” said Candice Jackson, DOE deputy general counsel, in a statement.
She said the “next necessary step is to restore athletic records to women who have for years been evaluated, ignored, and forced to watch men steal their accolades.”
In its Friday announcement, the NCAA said nothing about changing the women’s record books to remove male-born athletes. The Washington Times has reached out to the NCAA for comment.
Those applauding the department’s request include 12-time All-American swimmer Riley Gaines, who competed against Thomas at the 2022 NCAA women’s swimming championships. They tied for fifth place in the 200-yard freestyle, but NCAA officials on the scene gave the trophy to Thomas.
“A president who recognizes and celebrates women for our accomplishments is long overdue,” said Gaines in a statement. “Restoring stolen athletic accolades to their rightful owners is a crucial step towards reinstating accountability, integrity, and common sense – one that I wholeheartedly support.”
The two transgender collegiate athletes who enjoyed the most success in NCAA women’s sports are Thomas and CeCe Telfer, the track athlete who won the Division II women’s 200-meter hurdles at the 2019 outdoor championships.
Telfer was the first male-born athlete competing based on gender identity to win an NCAA women’s title, while Thomas was the first Division I transgender athlete to do so.
Thomas also broke multiple Ivy League records while swimming for the University of Pennsylvania women’s team during the 2021-22 season.
Thomas transferred to the women’s team after competing for three years on the men’s team. Under the NCAA’s previous policy, male-born athletes who identified as female were able to join women’s teams as long as they kept their testosterone in serum under 10 nmol/Liter for a year before competition.
At least a dozen transgender athletes have won awards in girls’ sports in high school, including Andrea Yearwood and Terry Miller, who combined to win 15 girls’ Connecticut track titles and break 17 girls’ records from 2017-20.
Four female track athletes sued the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference afterward over its transgender-eligibility policy, a case still making its way through the federal courts.
The Washington Times has reached out to the national federation for comment.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.