Two-time Olympic medalist Taylor Ruck wins 200 freestyle at NCAA championships, Lia Thomas finishes fifth

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Two-time Olympic medalist Taylor Ruck bested the competition in the 200-yard freestyle final to win her first-ever individual title at the NCAA women’s swimming championships Friday night, beating out transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, the favorite to win the event. 

A 21-year-old junior out of Stanford University, Ruck entered the finals with the top time of 1:41.89 in the prelims, just ahead of Thomas’ second-place finish of 1:142.09. But the field looked completely different in the finals when Ruck breezed into first place with a time of 1:41.12 while Thomas dropped to fifth place with a time of 1:43.40.

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"I’m just so glad to have my teammates here behind me, and this whole season has just been such a blast being back, and I’m so grateful to have them here," Ruck said after the race.

Stanford Cardinal swimmer Taylor Ruck celebrates with teammates after winning the 800 free relay national championship at the NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships at Georgia Tech.  (Brett Davis/USA TODAY Sports)

Friday night’s loss follows Thomas' first-place finish in the 500-yard free, in which she finished with a time of 4:33.24, a program record for the University of Pennsylvania’s women’s swim team. 

She beat out Virginia standout and Olympic silver medalist Emma Weyant by over a second to become the first transgender woman to win an NCAA swimming championship. 

Thomas’ participation in the women’s program has been harshly criticized in the women’s sporting world. 

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