“She has every right to compete” – Rice University swim coach Seth Huston opines on Lia Thomas controversy

“She has every right to compete” – Rice University swim coach Seth Huston opines on Lia Thomas controversy

Seth Huston and Lia Thomas

Rice University swim coach Seth Huston has openly spoken upon the ongoing controversy over Lia Thomas, a transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer who keeps besting female opponents. Lia first grabbed attention with her maiden US record which came when she won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:34:06 in December last year.

Meanwhile, Huston, a four-time Conference USA Coach of the Year, said that while he respects Thomas and the swimmer’s transition and he is “completely OK” with allowing Thomas to compete, the sport should be “given time to accommodate” Thomas and other transgender swimmers under Title IX. In an interaction with Swimswam.com, he said:

“In the meantime, Lia has every right to compete. But I think, black and white right now, you compete as what you were biologically born until we get to a point where we’ve expanded opportunities, you know for instance, in transgender.”

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He added: “I get Title IX, I understand it, Lia is completely within the law to do so. But there are other ways I think we can be accommodating and making opportunities for Lia without hurting a whole of others.”

“NCAA once again proved that it is not leading”

Seth Huston has been a head coach at Rice University for 19 seasons now
Seth Huston has been a head coach at Rice University for 19 seasons now

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) had announced earlier this week that they have updated the transgender-participation policy to reflect the practices of the US and International Olympic Committees.

However, Huston slammed the NCAA’s latest decision as well as a statement from the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America that supported Thomas competing at the Women’s NCAA Championships in March.

“The NCAA once again has proven that it is not leading. It is not really even following,” Huston said. “The NCAA governance has become a bystander waiting for other organizations to make tough decisions. They hoped NIL would continue to be suppressed and now they are scrambling to make it fit their construct. Now they sit on the sidelines with Transgender issues.”

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