Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer who won a women’s NCAA event in 2022 and who has said she has ambitions to compete in the Olympics, has asked the Court of Arbitration of Sport in Switzerland to overturn the rules of World Aquatics that prevent transgender women from competing in women’s divisions.
CAS, the world’s top court in matters of sporting fairness, acknowledged the case in a release on Friday and said that Thomas had asserted that the rules were unlawful and discriminatory. “Such discrimination cannot be justified as necessary, reasonable, or proportionate to achieve a legitimate sporting objective,” Thomas argued, CAS said in a statement that paraphrased her position.
CAS said that arbitration proceedings began in September 2023 and that the case had been confidential, according to governing procedures. But Thomas and World Aquatics, the governing body for swimming and several other water sports, agreed for the court to disclose the existence of the case, the court said in its statement. On Thursday, the Telegraph reported that the case had been filed.
A hearing has not been scheduled.
Thomas’ lawyers, based in Canada, and World Aquatics did not return messages seeking comment.
World Aquatics, which sets rules that inform elite competitions, including the…
