02-07-2025
Who is Lia Thomas and where is she now? UPenn to erase swimmer's records, ban trans athletes
The University of Pennsylvania is set to block transgender athletes from competing in women's sports, the US Education Department announced Tuesday, July 1. The decision is aimed at resolving a federal civil rights case that found that the university violated female athletes' rights, the Associated Press reported. Who is Lia Thomas and where is she now? UPenn to erase swimmer's records, ban trans athletes (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP)(AFP)
The investigation stemmed from transgender swimmer Lia Thomas. The university also said it will update records set by Thomas.
The US Department of Education said that the University of Pennsylvania would apologize and restore to female athletes titles and records that were "misappropriated by male athletes,' according to BBC. The Ivy League institution also said it would update its records set during the 2021–22 season to "indicate who would now hold the records under current eligibility guidelines.'
The case was brought on by the Trump administration after a probe by the US Education Department's Office for Civil Rights focused on Thomas. Thomas, who became the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I title (women's 500-yard freestyle), has been criticized by Donald Trump and Republicans over the past few years. Who is Lia Thomas and where is she now?
Thomas, who last competed for the Quakers in 2022, is an Austin, Texas native, who graduated high school in 2017. She was initially recruited to swim for the Penn men's swimming and diving team, and went on to culminate in three championship final appearances at the 2018 Ivy League men's swimming and diving championships in the distance freestyle events — 500-yard, 1000, and 1650 freestyle.
Thomas began hormone replacement therapy in May 2019. She eventually came out as trans to her coaches and then to the members of the men's and women's teams. In 2021, she returned to practice with the Penn women's swimming and diving team. She began making headlines following a standout performance at the Zippy Invitational in December of that year. She went on to notch the nation's fastest times of the season in the 200 and 500 freestyle events.
While Thomas continued to swim with the women's team, the NCAA Board of Governors voted to enact a 'sport-by-sport approach' in January 2022 to transgender athletes' participation as of the 2022-23 academic year. This deferred transgender participation policies to the sport's larger governing body, which was USA Swimming in this case.
Thomas said that the team was supportive of her participation. However, 16 Penn swimmers anonymously signed a letter saying she was taking away 'competitive opportunities' from them in meets like the Ivy League championship.
Meanwhile, Thomas got as many as three Ivy Leave titles and program records at the 2022 Ivy League championships. These performances qualified her for the 2022 NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships for the first time in her career. She won an NCAA title in the 500 free and also tied for fifth in the 200 free with University of Kentucky alum Riley Gaines. Thomas was also nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year by Penn.
After graduating from Penn, Thomas focused on getting a law degree and did not compete in any swim meets. Meanwhile, in March 2023, the World Athletics Council announced that it was banning trans women, specifically those who have gone through puberty, from participating in the sport. Thomas told ABC of the ruling at the time, 'This ruling is devastating and only detrimental to women's sports. It only serves to exclude any women who are not deemed woman enough. Trans women are women. Intersex women are women.'
Thomas has since continuously advocated for transgender athletes' inclusion in sport, but mostly stayed out of the public eye for most of 2023 and the beginning of 2024. Meanwhile, in February 2025, three former Penn swimmers filed a lawsuit against Penn, Harvard University, the Ivy League, and the NCAA, accusing them of violating Title IX by allowing Thomas to compete in the 2022 women's swimming and diving championships. Shortly after, President Trump signed an executive order barring transgender women from participating in women's sports.
The university has now said that it will send apology letters to female swimmers whose achievements were surpassed by Thomas. "The Department commends UPenn for rectifying its past harms against women and girls, and we will continue to fight relentlessly to restore Title IX's proper application and enforce it to the fullest extent of the law," Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement.
