How an Ivy League swimmer became the face of the debate on transgender women in sports

Penn senior Lia Thomas, a trans woman, won the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle races at the Ivy League Women's Swimming and Diving Championships this week.

By Eric Levenson, CNN

Updated 1328 GMT (2128 HKT) February 22, 2022

Boston (CNN)Lia Thomas stood tall and smiled wide atop the championship podium, her nearly 6-foot-4 frame pushing her head past the top of the Ivy League's green photo backdrop.

With one hand she held a placard reading «Ivy 2022 Champion,» and with the other shestuck up two fingers in that classic sign of victory. Her hair nestled alongside the medal around her neck as a blue University of Pennsylvania jacket hung from her broad swimmer's shoulders.Inside Harvard University's Blodgett Pool, not far from a large banner reading "8 Against Hate," referring to the Ivy's eight schools, her victories in the 500-yard freestyle on Thursday, the 200-yard freestyle on Friday and the 100-yard freestyle on Saturday showed a star athlete going about her business. The crowd of family and friends cheered politely, and Thomas posed for photos with Penn teammates and shook the hands of her closest competitors.Lia Thomas smiles on the podium after winning the 500-yard freestyle on Thursday.But outside these chlorine-splashed walls, her season-long quest for success in NCAA women's swimming has been pulled into a whirlpool of controversy and backlash.With each victory, Thomas, a transgender woman who previously swam for Penn's men's team, has brought renewed attention to the ongoing debate on trans women's participation in sports and the balance between inclusion and fair play.Read MoreHer face has been prominently featured on Fox News and right-wing news sites critical of society's changing views on sex and gender. In the