Lia Thomas' dominance in the pool leads to NCAA letter from fearful Penn parents about women's sports

Parents who were outraged at the NCAA for allowing University of Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas to compete and dominate in women’s competitions wrote a letter to the college athletics’ governing body demanding a rule change.

Thomas, a transgender student at the Ivy League university, dominated the 500-yard freestyle preliminaries and finals at the Zippy Invitational at the University of Akron this month. Thomas earned a winning time of 4:34.06 in the finals, breaking the national record, and set new school records in the 1,650-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle competitions. Thomas previously competed as a man for three years on the school's men's team. Thomas' success on the women’s team has renewed criticism over allowing transgender women to compete against biological females.

According to The Daily Mail, parents of about 10 swimmers sent a letter to the NCAA, the Ivy League and Penn athletics officials over their concerns about the integrity of women’s sports.

"At stake here is the integrity of women's sports. The precedent being set – one in which women do not have a protected and equitable space to compete – is a direct threat to female athletes in every sport. What are the boundaries? How is this in line with the NCAA's commitment to providing a fair environment for student-athletes?" the letter obtained by the outlet read.