Michael Phelps Lia Thomas Transgender Comments

“I first realized I was trans the summer before, in 2018,” Thomas recently told SwimSwam. “There was a lot of uncertainty, I didn’t know what I would be able to do, if I would be able to keep swimming. And so, I decided to swim out the 2018–2019 year as a man, without coming out, and that caused a lot of distress to me. I was struggling — my mental health was not very good. It was a lot of unease, basically just feeling trapped in my body. It didn’t align. I decided it was time to come out and start my transition.” In 2020, Lia was approved by the NCAA to swim on the women’s team.