Lia Thomas opens up about coming out as trans, dismisses those who half-support her: 'I’m a woman'

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

Penn swimmer Lia Thomas opened up about her performance in the pool and coming out as transgender less than two weeks before the NCAA Championships.

In a lengthy profile by Sports Illustrated published Thursday, Thomas opened up about the mental anguish she went through before coming out as trans. She told the magazine she started to question her gender identity at the end of her high school run in Texas and recalled feeling "disconnected with my body." She said she started to research more about what she had been feeling but worried about what others would think.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Pennsylvania's Lia Thomas, right, gets a hug from Yale's Iszak Henig after Thomas won the 100-yard freestyle final and Henig finished second at the Ivy League women's swimming and diving championships at Harvard, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm)

Thomas told Sports Illustrated she remembered feeling "depressed" about what she was going through during her second year at Penn and it affected her life at school. She said it wasn’t until she started hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in May 2019 that she started to feel more like herself.

"It surprised me. I felt, mentally, a lot better and healthier pretty quickly. The relief it gave me was quite substantial," Thomas said, adding that she came out to her teammates and coaches junior year.

By New Year's Day 2020, Thomas was going by the name "Lia." As COVID-19 shut down the season for Ivy League teams in 2020, she started to race in the women’s field by the 2021-22 season.

Thomas’ record-breaking swims at several events this season drew furor