(Reuters) – The University of Pennsylvania has nominated transgender swimmer Lia Thomas for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award, the American college sports regulating body said. Thomas shot to fame earlier this year when she became the first transgender NCAA champion in Division I history after winning the women’s 500-yard freestyle in March and she had hoped to compete for a place at the Olympics. But soon after, she became the focus of a raging debate when swimming’s world governing body FINA voted last month to restrict the participation of transgender athletes in elite women’s competiti…