Penn’s Lia Thomas wins 100M, 200M freestyle races in opposition to Harvard

Penn swimmer Lia Thomas came away with wins in the 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle races in opposition to Harvard on Saturday. The victories came days after the NCAA updated its protection for transgender participation and the draw that is possible to be selected a sport-by-sport foundation.

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Thomas accomplished the 100m stride in 50.55 seconds, with the second-receive 22 situation competitor in at 51.51. Within the 200m stride, Thomas obtained in 1: 47.08, whereas the second-receive 22 situation finisher came in 1: 48.44. Thomas, who used to be on the Penn men’s group for the interval of her first three years, joined the women individuals’s group after transitioning.

The NCAA presented that the protection would beginning with the wintry climate championships. The NCAA Division I Women individuals’s Swimming & Diving Championships are living for March 16-19 at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta.

“In accordance to the brand new NCAA protection set out on Wednesday, there is nothing that would possibly perchance preclude Lia from racing in March at the NCAA Championships. There is a framework, some guidance, nonetheless nothing that anyone would acknowledge as a line-in-the-sand threshold,” Braden Keith, the co-founder and editor-in-chief of SwimSwam, advised Fox Recordsdata on Thursday.

LIA THOMAS’ SWIMMING FUTURE IN THE SPOTLIGHT FOLLOWING NCAA’S UPDATED TRANSGENDER PARTICIPATION POLICY

“The interior strain within the sport in the final 24 hours has ramped up on USA Swimming and FINA to produce a decision, to reach support up with a rule or a threshold, and or no longer it is left them in invent of a worldly space – they’ve had this accountability, the duty to resolve what the NCAA rule is, thrust upon them, after I’m certain they like been hoping in deliver to kick the can down the boulevard a transient time longer.”

Closing month, Thomas dominated at the Zippy Invitational Match in Akron, Ohio. She accomplished the 1,650-yard freestyle 38 seconds sooner than the following closest finisher, teammate Anna Sofia Kalandaze. Thomas’ winning time used to be 15: 59: 71, and her UPenn teammate Anna Kalandaze came in second with a time of 16: 37: 44. 

Wait on on Dec. 3, Thomas obtained the 500-meter freestyle with a 4: 34: 06 carry out. She accomplished 14 seconds sooner than Kalandaze, to living the US file. The next Saturday, Thomas obtained the 200-meter freestyle in 1: 41: 93, which gave her the fastest time for a female in the country.

Under the brand new protection presented by the NCAA, it appears to be like Thomas will tranquil be eligible to stride this season for Penn. The Quakers like two extra meets sooner than the tip of the well-liked season.

The Ivy League Championships are slated for Feb. 16-19, and the Jap Faculty Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships are Feb. 24-27.

Penn and the Ivy League every supplied beef up for Thomas and vowed to work with the NCAA referring to her participation for the championships.

“Penn Athletics is conscious of the NCAA’s new transgender participation protection. In beef up of our student-athlete, Lia Thomas, we are able to work with the NCAA referring to her participation beneath the newly adopted requirements for the 2022 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship,” Penn Athletics said in a assertion obtained by Fox Recordsdata.

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The Ivy League added: “The Ivy League is conscious of the day earlier than at the present time’s NCAA Board of Governors’ decision to update its transgender policies beginning place with the 2022 NCAA Winter Championships. The league will work with the University of Pennsylvania and its other member institutions to determine on the mid-yr eligibility affect to any of its transgender student-athletes who would possibly perchance even be tormented by this decision and need to provide an update when appropriate.”

Fox Recordsdata’ Ryan Gaydos contributed to this narrative.