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Lia Thomas Net Worth
Lia Thomas in 2022 has estimated net worth of up to $500 thousand.
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Full Biography of Lia Thomas
In the spring of 2022, swimming star Lia Thomas became perhaps the most talked about and controversial athlete in the United States. Although she is not the first transgender woman to successfully compete in collegiate competition, she was the one who pushed the American athletic community into a deep rift.
Childhood and youth
The biography of Lia Thomas began in 1999 in an ordinary American family. The future swimmer grew up in the central part of Texas – the city of Austin. As the third and youngest child, he imitated the elders in many ways.
Lia Thomas started swimming at the age of five following the example of his brother. Both were on the Lost Creek Aquatics amateur team.
As a child, Lia Thomas’ athletic success was rather mediocre. His best result was a sixth-place finish in the Westlake High School High School Swimming Championships.
Swimming
After graduating from high school, Lia Thomas followed in his older brother’s footsteps and entered the University of Pennsylvania, where he continued his performances. However, his results were still not impressive: he barely got into the top six. The swimmer’s career peaked in 2019 when he placed second in the 500, 1000 and 1650 yard swims at the Ivy League championship.
Thomas began to doubt his gender identity in high school, and by 2019 he finally decided to change his gender. Lia announced the gender transition not only to the family, which unanimously supported him, but also to the leadership of the University of Pennsylvania.
A mandatory year of hormone therapy came in handy during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the collegiate swimming season being cancelled.
When the competition resumed, a new star lit up in the sports sky – Lia Thomas. The broad-shouldered swimmer, about 190 cm tall, with impressive muscles and coarse features, stood out noticeably among the athletes not only in appearance.
Her impressive results were also the subject of discussion, as she was able to quickly achieve great success in women’s swimming.
In December 2021, at a competition held in Akron, Thomas broke several US records at once. So, she won the 200 yard crawl, in the 500 yard swim she was 14 seconds ahead of her closest rival, in the 1650 yard swim she was 38 seconds ahead.
By the way, the high-profile victories of the swimmer, who was a man a year ago, caused a flurry of discontent not only from her rivals. Immediately after the start of the competition in Akron, an anonymous letter was sent to the National Collegiate Athletic Association from the parents of swimming children, demanding that Thomas be removed from participation in women’s competitions.
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Personal life
The infamous athlete carefully protects her personal life from prying eyes. Lia Thomas does not use social networks, she does not have accounts on Instagram and Facebook now.
Despite the support of the family, the swimmer had a hard time with problems with the definition of gender.
“I was very depressed. It got to the point where I couldn’t go to class. My sleep schedule was disrupted. Sometimes I couldn’t even get out of bed, ”Thomas admitted to Sports Illustrated magazine.
Lia Thomas now
In March 2022, Lia Thomas won a landslide victory in the first division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The swimmer finished first in the 500-yard freestyle, ahead of Tokyo 2020 vice-champions Emma Veyant and Erica Sullivan.
After the victory, the transgender woman again found herself at the center of the scandal, forcing the entire US sports community to talk about herself. Her participation in the tournament turned into a protest.
Activists from the Save Women’s Sports group sat in the stands with “Save Women’s Sports” signs, and at the awards ceremony, the silver and bronze medalists refused to take a photo with the winner.
Sports stars also divided into two camps. So, the famous swimmer, Olympic champion Michael Phelps openly opposed Thomas, saying that women should be equal at a distance.
The transgender athlete was supported by swimmer, Olympic silver medalist Brooke Ford, who noted that treating people with respect is more important than any record or trophy.
Another example of a clash of opinions was the election campaign of Republican Party member Vicki Hartzler. The politician stated that:
“women’s sports are for women, not for men pretending to be women.”
Lia Thomas Achievements
Among men:
- 2019 – Ivy League 500 yard silver medalist
- 2019 – Ivy League silver medalist at 1000 yards
- 2019 – Ivy League silver medalist at 1650 yards
- 2020 – University of Pennsylvania 500 Yards Tournament Winner
Among women:
- 2021 – Akron Zips 200 Yard Tournament Winner
- 2021 – Akron Zips 500 Yard Tournament Winner
- 2021 – Akron Zips 1650 Yard Tournament Winner
- 2022 – National Collegiate Athletic Association 500 Yard Winner
Interesting Facts about Lia Thomas
- The new name of the athlete was chosen at the family council. Lia was one of the first voiced and immediately liked the former man. The second name – Catherine – the swimmer paid tribute to her mother.
- Lia Thomas is not the only transgender person performing at a high level. So, the New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard became the first transgender athlete in the history of the Olympic Games. At the Winter Olympics – 2022 in Beijing, the American figure skater Timothy Leduc, who had previously declared his non-binary, performed. In 2022, Lia Thomas herself competed with another transgender: in student competitions, she lost to Isak Hoenig (he is a former woman who continues to transgender).
