The NCAA announced that Sylvie Binder, a fencer at Columbia University and a biological female, was chosen over transgender swimmer Lia Thomas as the Ivy League representative for the NCAA's "2022 Woman of the Year" award.
Binder advanced to the round of 151 student-athletes for NCAA "Woman of the Year."
As a freshman in 2019, Binder captured the NCAA Fencing national championship. In 2022, she placed second at the Northeast Regional, third at the NCAA championships, and fifth at the Ivy League championships (17-6 overall record).
Binder was also named the 2022 Women's Connie S. Maniatty Award winner, recognizing Columbia's top senior student-athlete.
Thomas has been a controversial national figure over the past four months, winning the NCAA women's title in March while representing the University of Pennsylvania, despite some dissenting opinions from Thomas' fellow competitors.
"It's a shame that Penn is still refusing to recognize the intrinsic biological difference that makes women a distinct sex from men," one former teammate recently told the Washington Examiner.
Earlier this month, University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, a biological female who lost to Thomas in March, characterized Thomas' "Woman of the Year" nomination as a "slap in the face" to other women athletes.
Thomas, who first started partaking in hormone replacement therapy in 2019, currently owns UPenn women's school record in the 100 free (47.37 seconds), 200 free (1:41.93), 500 free (4:33.24), 1,000 free (9:35.96), and 1,650 free (15:59.71).
At the Ivy League Championships, Thomas' 500 free time broke the previous record held by Olympian Kate Ziegler, according to reports.
Before her conversion, William Thomas swam for three seasons on UPenn's men's team.
The NCAA will narrow its list to 30 "Woman of the Year" finalists in October, and the winner will be announced in January 2023.
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