Swim against Penn's Lia Thomas at NCAAs? Not 'a problem,' Stanford Olympic silver medalist Brooke Forde says

Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce discusses the fight for fairness in women’s sports

Brooke Forde, a swimming star for Stanford who also won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics last summer, expressed support for transgender swimmer Lia Thomas as her clearance to participate in the upcoming NCAA Championships remained unclear.

Thomas was thrust into the national spotlight amid the debate over whether transgender female athletes competing against biological females in college sports was unfair toward biological female athletes. Thomas set records at the Zippy Invitational and won a few races during Ivy League competition.

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Lia Thomas of the Pennsylvania Quakers smiles after winning the 200-yard freestyle event during a tri-meet against the Yale Bulldogs and the Dartmouth Big Green at Sheerr Pool on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania on Jan. 8, 2022 in Philadelphia. (Getty Images)

But with the NCAA updating its transgender participation policy to defer guidelines to national governing bodies, Thomas’ status for the NCAA Championships in March was unclear. 

Forde, 22, the Kentucky-born daughter of Sports Illustrated college football writer Pat Forde, gave her father a statement on the issue. He read the statement on his podcast earlier this week, according to SwimSwam.

"I have great respect for Lia. Social change is always a slow and difficult process, and we rarely get it correct right away. Being among the first to lead such a social change requires an enormous amount of courage and I admire Lia for her leadership that will undoubtedly benefit many trans athletes in the future," Brooke Forde’s statement read.

"In 2020 I, along with most swimmers, experienced what