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Lia Thomas and Iszac Henig have stirred up the pool from their respective performances. The two transgender swimmers, Thomas for Penn and Henig for Yale, have been phenomenal in the face-off competition. Both secured points for their respective teams. Two trans athletes facing each other in an event is surely very rare in the NCAA.
However, when the question arises about which trans swimmer had a better career, then Iszac Henig gets a slight edge over Lia Thomas. Although Thomas was the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I national championship, Henig slightly bettered her in every aspect.
The two transgender student-athletes competed against one another in the 100-yard freestyle, which Henig also won. Lia Thomas came in sixth, over two seconds behind Henig. Both were recently named the Outsports 2022 Transgender Athlete of the year.
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Iszac Henig Career
American trans swimmer Iszac Henig was born in 1999 in Menlo Park, California. Most of his time spent was near the ocean. He enjoyed exploring the tidal pools and having fun in the sand. He developed a liking for the sensation of cold water flowing about his body as he raced around the pool as he grew older.
Before joining Yale, he was the captain of his high school team. He even earned two-time MVP and holds records in the 50, 100, 200, and 500-yard freestyle Olympic Trials Qualifier.
He first competed in the 2019 IVY League Championship. However, he had an average season, finishing third in the 200-yard freestyle, fourth in the 50-yard freestyle, and sixth in the 100-yard freestyle.
In the 2020 IVY League Championship, he bettered his performance and held the season's fastest 100-yard freestyle clocking time of 48.90.
Iszac Henig openly came out as a transgender guy last summer. He had gender-affirming top surgery after the COVID epidemic in 2020–2021 forced the cancelation of Ivy League swimming.
Henig would be ineligible to compete for the championship on the Yale women's team under NCAA rules if he began taking hormone replacement medication.
Lia Thomas Career
American swimmer Lia Thomas was born in 1999/2000. She started attending the University of Pennsylvania in 2017, and she graduated in May 2022. She participated in swimming competitions for the university's men's team from 2017 to 2020 and later in the women's squad from 2021 to 2022. She won the women's 500-yard freestyle event in March 2022 to become the first openly transgender athlete to claim an NCAA Division I national title in any sport.
She placed 554 in the 200 freestyle, 65 in the 500 freestyle, and 32 in the 1650 freestyle during the 2018–19 season when competing for the men's squad. After competing in the women's squad in the 2021–2022 season, those ranks are now fifth in the 200 freestyle, first in the 500 freestyle, and eighth in the 1650 freestyle.
Lia Thomas placed sixth in the 100-meter freestyle event in the competition against Yale, an Ivy League rival of Penn. Thomas lost to four cisgender women and Iszac Henig, a transgender man who underwent his transition without the need for hormone treatment.
After winning the women's 500-yard freestyle in March 2022 with a time of 4:33.24, Thomas made history by becoming the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I national championship in any sport. Olympic silver medalist Emma Weyant finished in second place with a time that was 1.75 seconds slower than Thomas.
