Three Former Penn Swimmers Sue over Lia Thomas; NCAA Offers Transgender Guidance
Three former Penn swimmers have brought a lawsuit over the participation of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas three years ago. The litigation comes in the shadow of a looming executive order on transgender participation in college sport, to which the NCAA responded late Wednesday.
Swimmers Grace Estabrook, Ellen Holmquist and Margot Kaczorowski swam alongside Thomas at Penn. They are suing Penn, Harvard, the Ivy League and the NCAA claiming that their Title IX rights were violated by those entities allowing Thomas to compete.
Thomas competed on the men’s team at Penn before transitioning gender. As a senior in 2021-22, she won Ivy League titles in the 100 free, 200 free and 500 free. Thomas won an NCAA title in the 500 free, tied for fifth in the 200 free and finished eighth in the 100 free.
The swimmers seek to challenge the application of NCAA’s policy on transgender athletes, instituted in 2010. It is seeking damages for, “pain and suffering, mental and emotional distress, suffering and anxiety, expenses costs and other damages against the NCAA, Ivy League, Harvard, and UPenn due to their wrongful conduct.”
The lawsuit was filed on the same day that President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to ensure exclusion of transgender athletes. The White House is using the action to make federal funding contingent on its interpretation of Title IX. It will require that “sex” be interpreted as a person’s gender as assigned at birth.
The NCAA responded to the executive order with this statement from president Charlie Baker, which offers little resistance to the action:
“The NCAA is an organization made up of 1,100 colleges and universities in all 50 states that collectively enroll more than 530,000 student-athletes. We strongly believe that clear, consistent, and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today’s student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions. To that end, President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard.
“The NCAA Board of Governors is reviewing the executive order and will take necessary steps to align NCAA policy in the coming days, subject to further guidance from the administration. The Association will continue to help foster welcoming environments on campuses for all student-athletes. We stand ready to assist schools as they look for ways to support any student-athletes affected by changes in the policy.”
