Pre-transition Lia Thomas wasn’t mid-tier, but I suspect you already knew that

I was a college athlete. Trust me, this topic has been discussed ad infinitum. People were not even allowed to speak out. In addition, the NCAA meet is very competitive and Thomas pushed someone out of the meet and out of finals. Girls work their entire life for this meet just for it to end this way. It's shockingly sad on so many levels. It's not common, but it's not right that people were not even allowed to speak up. Former swimmers there have done interviews.

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fwip 3 hours ago | parent [-]

Every single person in that meet "pushed someone" else out of that meet. That's how competition works.

	▲	fourseventy 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		So your position is that men can freely play in women's sports?

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braingravy 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Mid-tier or not is a judgement call.

Regardless, Lia went from not being in the front of the pack, to being in the front of the pack:

“By the conclusion of Thomas's swimming career at UPenn in 2022, her rank had moved from 65th on the men's team to 1st on the women's team in the 500-yard freestyle, and 554th on the men's team to fifth on the women's team in the 200-yard freestyle.”

65th to 1st in one category, and 554th to 5th in another.

It is fair to say there was a significant increase in rank post-transition.

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fwip 3 hours ago | parent [-]

Yeah, generally you get better in your sport in the 4-5 years you're in college. She was already putting up crazy numbers as a freshman on the men's team.

From Wikipedia:

> Thomas began swimming on the men's team at the University of Pennsylvania in 2017. During her freshman year, Thomas recorded a time of eight minutes and 57.55 seconds in the 1,000-yard freestyle that ranked as the sixth-fastest national men's time, and also recorded 500-yard freestyle and 1,650-yard freestyle times that ranked within the national top 100.[4] On the men's swim team in 2018–2019, Thomas finished second in the men's 500, 1,000, and 1,650-yard freestyle at the Ivy League championships as a sophomore in 2019.[4][3][13] During the 2018–2019 season, Thomas recorded the top UPenn men's team times in the 500 free, 1,000 free, and 1,650 free, but was the sixth best among UPenn men's team members in the 200 free.[14]

To focus in on her just-out-of-highschool low ranking, and imply that it's weird that she improved by the time she graduated, is deliberately disingenuous (not on your part, but on the writer's.) She had already won 3 silver medals as a sophomore on the men's team, and was the best on her team in all but one event.

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fourseventy 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Wow dude. Just wow. You are so far down the far left gender ideology rabbit hole I'm honestly I'm honestly impressed.

Lia thomas' improved ranking isn't because he went from competing vs men to competing vs women but rather it's because people naturally improve in their sport over time? unbelievable.

	▲	bit-anarchist an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Holy bad faith. OP didn't say Thomas's improved ranking is simply due to "people naturally improving overtime", but because she already was already rising, even between other men. Could you at least argue that point? Also, if that's a "far left ideology rabbit hole" (it isn't even ideological), I have to ponder what the hell you think is a "right ideology", nevermind "far right ideology".