The women's 100Y freestyle title was won by Gretchen Walsh from Virginia. 1:06
Lia Thomas ended her collegiate swimming career with an eighth place finish in the 100 yard freestyle. The time of 48.18 seconds was 0.81 seconds slower than the time she qualified for.
Walsh won her first individual NCAA championship in 46.05 seconds.
Iszac Henig finished in a tie for fifth place with a career best 47.32 seconds. Henig is eligible to compete in the women's category because he hasn't begun hormone therapy.
Walsh was 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 After the first 50, Henig was in fifth and Thomas was in eighth. Thomas was the only one to go slower than her qualification time.
Before the race, Thomas was met with scattered cheers, a couple of boos, and a noticeable quiet.
The fourth and eighth seeds were Thomas and Henig. They both finished second in their heat. The last time they met was at the Ivy League championship. The conference title went to Thomas over Henig. Henig avenged that loss in Atlanta.
After the awards ceremony, Thomas and Henig posed for a photo on the podium and embraced. Both swimmers wrote a message on their arms for the race.
The controversy surrounding Thomas ended with the 100 free. Her name has stayed in the news ever since she won the 200, 500 and 1,650 freestyle at the Zippy Invitation in December.
She put up times that were close to the records of both Ledecky and Franklin. In December, she was within 2 seconds of Ledecky and 10 seconds of Franklin.
Many in the swimming community wondered how fast Thomas would be after a season of training.
The core question was answered in Atlanta. Thomas competed in three individual events. She made all three championship finals, making her a three-time All-American. She won the 500 and finished 9 seconds off Ledecky's record in the 100. Thomas did not set a pool, meet or American records.
Thomas said on the pool deck that it means the world to be here.
There was a mixture of anticipation, emotion from the inside and outside of the pool and uncertainty of how Thomas would perform.
It was tense, according to Elizabeth Beisel, an Olympian and two-time NCAA champion at Florida who worked as an analyst for the broadcast of the swimming championships. Lia was in the water. Lia won. It felt like a normal swim meet on Friday. As the meet has gone on, it has felt more relaxed. It feels like any other NCAA meet.
After winning the 1650 freestyle, the Wisconsin freshman said that she felt for her. People need to learn how to treat other people better. I respect her a lot. She handled it well and what she did was really hard.
The question of what will happen next is large for everything that has happened in Atlanta this week. The NCAA's new policy opened a can of worms that have yet to be resolved. Until that date, the NCAA policy governing eligibility for trans women in women's championship was that they needed to have completed 12 months of testosterone suppression. The policy was put into effect on January 19th.
The focus of this swimming season was put on USA Swimming's policy, which was updated in February. USA swimming members, designated elite events, and those who want to be eligible for American records start at ages 13-14, but the policy did not apply to the NCAA championships.
The policy requires trans women to go before an independent panel and prove they don't have a competitive advantage over their cisgender peers, and to have their testosterone levels lowered for 36 months.
The NCAA did not apply those rules to the swimming championship in 2022, so it is unclear how they will apply to swimming eligibility in the future.
The swimming career of Thomas is over. She is the only woman competing in NCAA Division I athletics. There is an open question as to what will happen when it comes to policy for athletes in collegiate sports.
That question was not answered this week in Georgia.
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