Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas is a nominee for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award.
Thomas won the women’s Division I championship in the 500-yard freestyle earlier this year, generating controversy in the process as observers and critics debated the fairness of her competing. The Penn athlete had competed on the school’s men’s team for three seasons before transitioning and competing on the women’s team as a senior.
Each NCAA school can nominate one graduating woman athlete for the award (or two, if one is an international student or a person of color).