Amid protests, Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas becomes first known transgender athlete to win Division I national championship

ATLANTA — Lia Thomas is a national champion.

Thomas, who is a transgender woman, touched the wall in 4 minutes, 33.24 seconds in the 500-yard freestyle on Thursday night to become the first known transgender athlete to win a Division I national championship in any sport.

Thomas finished 1.75 seconds ahead of second-place Emma Weyant, of Virginia. Her time was a career best and a little more than 9 seconds off of Katie Ledecky's 4:24.06 record.

The race began with the crowd cheering for each of the swimmers, but fans were noticeably quiet for Thomas' introduction. Save Women's Sports founder Beth Stelzer draped a vinyl banner with the organization's phrase over the railing.

During the race, Thomas was tested by Olympians Brooke Forde (Stanford), Erica Sullivan (Texas), and Weyant, but ultimately the Penn senior pulled away to win her first championship.

«It means the world to be here,» Thomas said in an interview after the race.

Thomas, however, declined to attend the NCAA-required post-race press conference.

As she stood on the podium with her trophy, she flashed a peace sign, just as she did for her four Ivy League championships. And once again, the crowd was noticeably quiet as she was announced as the champion.

«It's a symbol of Lia's resilience,» Schuyler Bailar, the first known transgender man to compete on a Division I men's team while at Harvard, told ESPN. «The fact that she's able to show up here, despite protesters outside, people shouting and booing her, I think it's a testament to her resiliency. And it's also a symbol that we can both be who we are and do what we love.»

After posting the nation's top times in the 200 and 500 freestyle events in December at the Zippy Invitational in Akron, Ohio, Thomas