Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer for the University of Pennsylvania, is continuing to dominate women’s swimming competitions, this time by breaking a record in the 500-yard freestyle at the Ivy League’s championship event.
Thomas finished the race in 4 minutes and 37.32 seconds while competing at the Ivy League championships on Thursday evening, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Thomas’s time is a new record in Harvard University’s Blodgett Pool.
“I want everyone at this meet to know that I support her,” teammate Andie Myers told ESPN. “She’s worked for all of this, and she’s given up so much to transition and to be authentically herself. I think it’s really important, and I think it’s really brave what she’s doing today.”
TRANSGENDER PENN SWIMMER BREAKS TEAM RULES, COMPARES SELF TO JACKIE ROBINSON
Thomas edged ahead during the second half of the race and ended with a time three seconds faster than the swimmer’s previous record, the report added.
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Lia Thomas is the @IvyLeague champion in the 500 free. Her time of 4:37.32 is a new pool record.
Catherine Buroker finishes in second.#FightOnPenn pic.twitter.com/ki2SQdxn6Q
— Penn Swimming & Diving (@PennSwimDive) February 17, 2022
A sophomore from the University of Pennsylvania, Catherine Buroker, finished in second place about seven seconds later, with a time of 4 minutes and 44.83 seconds. Defending Ivy League champion from Princeton University, sophomore Ellie Marquardt, finished in third with a time of 4 minutes and 46.63 seconds, according to the outlet.
Thomas, a biological male who transitioned to female, has received national attention in debates over whether transgender athletes can compete on women’s sports teams.
Some athletes have argued Thomas’s entry into women’s events is unfair. Sixteen swimmers who swim alongside Thomas during National Collegiate Athletic Association events argued in a letter sent to UPenn and Ivy League officials on Feb. 4 that their transgender teammate should not be allowed to compete next month, citing the “biology of sex” as having created an “unfair advantage.”
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Both USA Swimming and the NCAA adjusted their policies regarding transgender athletes in women’s sports in January. Beginning in March, the NCAA will allow individual teams to decide whether transgender athletes can compete, while USA Swimming will require transgender athletes to prove their “physical development” as biologically male won’t provide them an advantage in competitions.
The UPenn swim team did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
