Laurel Hubbard, first transgender athlete in the Olympics 0:35
(CNN) --
University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas is the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I title after finishing first in the women's 500-yard free trial on Thursday night.
Thomas took the lead in the final 150 yards to win in 4:33.24.
Lia Thomas took the lead in the last 150 yards.
Thomas, who formerly swam for Penn's men's team, is at the center of the current debate about transgender women's participation in sports and the balance between inclusion and fair play.
"I try to ignore (negative comments) as much as I can. I try to focus on my swimming and what I have to do to get ready for my races and block out everything else," Thomas told ESPN after the race.
There was some booing from onlookers in the arena, with one person yelling "cheater" as Thomas gave his interview.
"It means a lot to be here," Thomas said.
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Her time was the fastest of the NCAA season, but a far cry from 10-time Olympic medalist Katie Ledecky's NCAA record of 4:24.06.
Virginia freshman Emma Weyant, silver medal winner in the 400-meter freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics, finished second Thursday, 1.75 seconds behind Thomas.
Texas freshman and Olympic silver medalist Erica Sullivan, who battled with Thomas for the lead for much of the race, took third place.
Fifth-year Thomas is also the favorite to win the 200-yard freestyle this Friday and is set to compete in the 100-yard freestyle on Saturday.
With this victory, Thomas is the first transgender athlete to win a Division I title in any sport.
CeCé Telfer was the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA title of any kind when she won the 2019 Division II championship in the women's 400m hurdles.
Thomas first gained public attention with an impressive performance at the Ohio Zippy Invitational in December, when he set NCAA season-best times in the 200- and 500-yard free runs.
Last month, at the Ivy League Women's Championships, she won the 100, 200 and 500-yard freestyle races.
With success has come criticism over whether transgender women should be allowed to compete in women's sports.
Her face has been featured prominently on Fox News and right-wing news sites criticizing society's changing views on sex and gender.
16 swimmers from the University of Pennsylvania ask the university not to challenge the new policy for transgender athletes
Some of her Pennsylvania teammates have also been against her participation.
Last month, an anonymous letter written on behalf of 16 of her 40 teammates from the University of Pennsylvania criticized what they considered her "unfair advantage," saying they supported her gender transition outside the pool but not necessarily in it. .
In response, more than 300 current and former college and elite swimmers signed an open letter defending Thomas's ability to compete.
One of the signatories was Sullivan, his closest competitor in Thursday's 500 free preliminary.
"I was fortunate to be welcomed with open arms in the swimming community when I came out as gay," Sullivan said in a statement.
"From my good personal experience of speaking out about my orientation and feeling all that love and support within my swimming community, I feel like [Lia] deserves the same."
what thomas said
University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas won the 100, 200 and 500-yard freestyle races at the Ivy League Women's Swimming and Diving Championships in February.
Thomas previously told the SwimSwam podcast that he realized he was transgender in the summer of 2018 but kept it a secret, fearing coming out would take away his ability to swim.
"I was struggling, my mental health wasn't great. There was a lot of discomfort, about basically feeling trapped in my body. I didn't feel good," she said.
Currently, the NCAA requires transgender athletes to take one year of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in order to participate in women's sports.
Thomas said she started TSH in May 2019 and came out as trans that fall, having already received NCAA approval for her participation in the women's field.
Thomas declined to speak to CNN through an Ivy spokesman during the championships.
He spoke to Sports Illustrated earlier this month to defend his ability to compete.
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"The simplest answer is that I am not a man," he said.
"I'm a woman, so I'm on the women's team. Trans people deserve the same respect as any other athlete."
Since then, the NCAA has adopted a series of stricter guidelines that require elite trans athletes to take three years of hormone replacement therapy and demonstrate to a panel of medical experts that they do not have a competitive advantage over cisgender women.
These rules will be applied in phases in the coming seasons.
-- CNN's Jamiel Lynch contributed to this report.
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