{"id":616259,"date":"2025-07-01T15:10:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T22:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=616259"},"modified":"2025-07-01T15:27:23","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T22:27:23","slug":"lia-thomas-records-erased-as-penn-bans-transgender-athletes-from-womens-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/lia-thomas-records-erased-as-penn-bans-transgender-athletes-from-womens-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Lia Thomas Records Erased as Penn Bans Transgender Athletes From Women’s Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lia Thomas Records Erased as Penn Bans Transgender Athletes From Women’s Sports<\/strong><\/p>\n

Three years ago, Lia Thomas<\/strong> drew national and international headlines as the first transgender female swimmer to contend for and eventually win an NCAA title. Now, in response to a Title IX lawsuit<\/a>, the University of Pennsylvania has agreed to strip Thomas’ titles and records and ban any further transgender females from competing on women’s sports teams.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Education Department announced Tuesday the terms to which Penn had agreed. The federal government determined the school had violated the rights of women and girls by allowing an athlete assigned male at birth to compete on a women’s team. If Penn had fought the ruling, the school could have lost significant federal funding.<\/p>\n

As part of the deal to ensure the school retains its funding, Penn “will restore to female athletes all individual UPenn Division I swimming records, titles, or similar recognitions which were misappropriated.” Additionally, the university must issue a statement emphasizing its future compliance with Title IX and exclusion of transgender females from women’s teams.<\/p>\n

This falls in line with guidance from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump<\/strong>, who has made a priority of prohibiting anyone assigned male at birth from participating in women’s sports since returning to office in January.<\/p>\n

Further requirements of Penn include:<\/p>\n