Thomas plans to keep swimming

Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas said she intends to keep competing, with the ultimate goal of reaching the Olympics.

In an interview that aired on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Thomas also disputed those who say she has an unfair biological edge that ruins the integrity of women’s athletics.

“Trans women are not a threat to women’s sports,” she said.

Thomas became a leading symbol of transgender athletes — stirring both opposition and support — when she joined the Penn women’s swim team after competing for three years on the men’s squad at the Ivy League school.

In March, Thomas won the women’s 500yard freestyle at the NCAA championships in Atlanta, becoming the first transgender woman to claim a national title in swimming. She has since graduated from Penn and plans to attend law school, in addition to pursuing her goal of qualifying for the 2024 U.S. Olympic swimming trials that will determine the team for the Paris Games.

“I intend to keep swimming,” Thomas told ABC. “It’s been a goal of mine to swim at Olympic trials for a very long time, and I would love to see that through.”

USA Swimming has used a review panel to make individual determinations on a case-bycase basis since 2018. Thomas would need approval from the governing body to attempt to qualify for the next Olympic trials.

Thomas, who grew up in Austin, Texas, said she fell in love with swimming at age 4 but felt increasingly disconnected from her body as she grew older.

“I didn’t feel like I was a boy,” she said.

College basketball

NC STATE PROSPECT RETURNS TO SCHOOL » North Carolina State guard Terquavion Smith is returning for his sophomore season after going through the NBA draft process.

The 6-foot-4 sophomore participated in the league draft combine in Chicago earlier this month and was considered a potential firstround prospect. But Smith posted a video to social media announcing his plan to return, saying: “The job’s not done. Let’s get to work.”

ESPN, which first reported Smith’s decision, had Smith ranked 22nd among draft prospects after he averaged 16.3 points and shot 37% from 3-point range. He was second in the Atlantic Coast Conference in freshman scoring behind only Duke’s Paolo Banchero, a candidate to go No. 1 overall.

NFL JUDGE DISMISSES CASE AGAINST JEUDY »

At the request of prosecutors, a suburban Denver judge dismissed charges against Broncos wide receiver Jerry Jeudy stemming from a dispute with his girlfriend that landed him in jail.

Arapahoe County District Court Judge Chantel Contiguglia closed the case after the county district attorney’s office filed a motion to dismiss the charges, said Eric Ross, a spokesman for the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

Contiguglia also vacated a court hearing to enter a plea that had been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, Ross said.

That allowed Jeudy to attend the Broncos’ OTA practice.

“We’ve been right there by his side throughout this whole thing,” Coach Nathaniel Hackett said.