Lia Thomas, a senior at the University of Pennsylvania, set an Ivy League record for fastest 200-yard freestyle Friday evening to earn her second victory at the Ivy League Swimming and Diving Championships.
Thomas completed the freestyle in a minute and 43.12 seconds, which was .66 seconds faster than the previous record set by Harvard’s Miki Dahlke in 2020. She won the 500-yard freestyle on Thursday, completing that event in four minutes and 37.32 seconds.
Thomas, a transgender woman, set a variety of school records this year, and is also preparing to participate in the NCAA championships in March
Thomas has been at the center of debate around participation in women's sports, which peaked when 16 Penn swimmers wrote a letter stating Thomas shouldn’t compete on the women’s team. However, another group of Penn swimmers publicly supported Thomas’ place on the team. Thomas spent three years on the men's team at Penn before competing on the women's team.
Additionally, over 300 current and former collegiate and professional swimmers signed a letter in support of Thomas. The letter asked the NCAA to not adopt USA Swimming’s new testosterone policy regarding transgender swimmers in the middle of the season.
Last week, the NCAA announced it wouldn’t deviate from its current stance, meaning Thomas had to clear previously-agreed-to testosterone thresholds to participate. Once she did, Thomas was cleared to compete in this weekend’s championship events.
Thomas is expected to continue her individual participation in the championships on Saturday, competing in either the 100-yard or 1,650-yard freestyle.
