Emma Weyant: Second-place finisher in Lia Thomas' NCAA championship race won Olympic medal in 2021

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Penn swimmer Lia Thomas became the first transgender woman to win an NCAA swimming championship after beating out not only the top-ranked swimmers across the country but an Olympic medalist in the 500-yard freestyle event on Thursday night. 

Still, the crowd cheered for the second-place finisher, Virginia freshman Emma Weyant, who clocked a time of 4:34.99, falling behind Thomas in the final 100 yards of the 500 freestyle event. Texas freshman Erica Sullivan and Stanford’s Brooke Forde finished in third and fourth place with times of 4:35.92 and 4:36.18, respectively. 

Weyant, 20, won the silver medal in the women’s 400-meter individual medley at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. The Florida native is also a three-time U.S. National Champion, a two-time Junior Pan Pacific medalist and a four-time Florida High School Athletic Association 4A State Champion in the 500 free and 200 individual medley.  

TWITTER EXPLODES OVER TRANS SWIMMER LIA THOMAS WINNING NATIONAL TITLE: ‘A SLAP IN THE FACE TO WOMEN AND GIRLS’ 

Texas swimmers Erica Sullivan and Evie Pfeifer embrace as 500 Freestyle winner Lia Thomas walks past during the NCAA swimming and diving championships March 17, 2022, at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta. (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

"Honestly, this is like crazier than anything I could have dreamed of," Weyant said after her Olympic medal-winning race, via Virginia’s team website. "I’m just so happy to be here to race the best in the world. It is so much fun."

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Emma Weyant of the U.S. poses with the silver medal for the women's 400-meter individual