Who is Lia Thomas' brother Wes? Trans swimmer's sibling broke records for UPenn Men's team
UPenn's star athlete and trans-swimmer Lia Thomas faces renewed outrage after she emerged the winner in both 100 m and 200 m freestyle races against Harvard. The 22-year-old champion competed at an NCAA college swim meet against the Harvard University women's team in Boston, Massachusetts. She won the 100-meter event clocking a record time of 50.55 seconds while she covered 200-meter freestyle in 1:47.08. Her victory sparked fresh controversy and uproar among other women swimmers and their parents, who have opted against Lia Thomas participating in the women's team.
Thomas had previously participated as a male swimmer in the first three years at UPenn. However, as per the NCAA guidelines, she was allowed to participate with the women after undergoing hormone therapy for gender transition. Thomas, who had been a star swimmer back in her school days as well, earned immense flak from her teammates and their parents amid her impressive streak of wins. However, few are aware that Lia Thomas has an elder brother who was also a star swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania and participated in the men's team.
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Lia Thomas, who was previously known by her dead name Will Thomas, originally hails from Austin, Texas. She attended Westlake High School and broke many records as a student-athlete during her school days. She got accepted at UPenn in 2017 and competed with the Men's Swimming Team from 2017 to 2020.
Before Lia, her elder brother Wes Thomas had also attended the Ivy League institute and graduated in 2017. The two siblings missed overlapping by a brief time margin. He was also a graduate of Westlake High School and got accepted at UPenn in 2013. Wes Thomas enrolled in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences with a major in Mechanical Engineering. In terms of his performance as a student-athlete, Wes Thomas recorded his best times at both long-distance freestyle and breaststroke.
Lia and Wes Thomas are born to Carrie and Bob Thomas from Austin, though not many details about them are known. In fact, Lia Thomas has always been tight-lipped about her family and personal life. She has displayed immense restraint even amid the raging global controversy around her.
Just days ago, a fresh bout of controversy erupted around Thomas. An anonymous UPenn swimmer accused her transgender teammate of conspiring with Yale transgender swimmer Iszac Henig during a 100-freestyle race, where Thomas notably lost to Henig. The alleger, who is a student at the University of Pennsylvania, claimed that Thomas lost to Henig to prove that, "Oh see, a female-to-male beat me." Henig defeated Thomas in the 100-yard freestyle race, finishing with a time of 49.57, while Thomas finished sixth with a time of 52.84. Thomas was involved in controversy prior to this when she defeated swimmer Anna Sofia Kalandadze, causing outrage.
