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Two Penn swimmers named Ivy champions, with Lia Thomas breaking meet and second pool record

Penn sophomore Catherine Buroker won the 1,000-yard freestyle, while senior Lia Thomas came first in the 200-yard free, breaking an Ivy meet and pool record.

University of Pennsylvania's Lia Thomas wears her medal after winning the women's 200 yard-freestyle race during the Women's Ivy League Swimming and Diving Championships Friday. Thomas won the race with a time of 1:43.12. Harvard swimmers Samantha Shelton (left) and Molly Hamlin place second and third, respectively.
University of Pennsylvania's Lia Thomas wears her medal after winning the women's 200 yard-freestyle race during the Women's Ivy League Swimming and Diving Championships Friday. Thomas won the race with a time of 1:43.12. Harvard swimmers Samantha Shelton (left) and Molly Hamlin place second and third, respectively.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

BOSTON — Two University of Pennsylvania swimmers were named Ivy League champions Friday night, including senior Lia Thomas, who won her second title in as many days, and broke an Ivy League meet and her second Harvard University Blodgett Pool record.

The third day of the championship meet began with Penn sophomore Catherine Buroker dominating the 1,000-yard freestyle. For much of the race, Buroker just barely led junior teammate Anna Sofia Kalandadze, but around the three-quarters mark, she propelled into a sizable lead, and finished in 9 minutes and 43.54 seconds.

Buroker currently holds the Penn record in the 1,000-yard free, about four seconds faster than her showing Friday. Kalandadze, an Ardmore native and Lower Merion High School grad, finished second with a time of 9:50.05. She and Buroker embraced across the pool lines following the finish.

Quakers senior Grace Giddings touched the wall fourth at 9:57.15.

The evening continued with Thomas, following a strong showing in the morning preliminaries, expected to take first in the 200 freestyle — a race in which she currently holds this year’s top NCAA time.

She was less than two seconds away from besting that time Friday, cruising past competitors for a final finish of 1:43.12 — an Ivy League meet record by just five-tenths of a second.

Thomas, who is a transgender woman, had broken the Blodgett Pool record before the final competition even began with a preliminary race time Friday morning of 1:44.91, just 0.09 seconds faster than the pool record set in 2018. She reestablished that pool record by more than a second in the finals.

Junior Bridget O’Leary placed sixth in the 200 free with a time of 1:48.29 for the Quakers, and junior Margot Kaczorowski came in seventh at 1:48.73.

The Quakers have been a presiding force in the championship freestyle races, taking three of the top four spots in Friday’s 1,000 free.

On Thursday, Thomas became the Ivy champion of the 500-yard freestyle, and broke a Blodgett pool record in that race. Buroker, of Trumbull, Conn., came in second.

Thomas, 22, holds the fastest times in the country among NCAA women in the 200 and 500 freestyle, and her success has placed her at the center of a heated national debate on transgender athletes’ — especially trans women’s — rights to play sports.

Quick facts on Lia Thomas

For a more comprehensive dive, read this explainer. Here are a few key things to know:

  • Thomas' swimming: Thomas swam on the men’s team for three years. Last season was canceled by the pandemic. This is her first year on the women’s team.
  • Hormone therapy: She started hormone replacement therapy in May 2019.
  • Eligibility: Thomas has fulfilled all the NCAA’s eligibility requirements to compete.
  • The science: Experts say a trans woman’s testosterone levels will fall to that of the average cis-woman’s between the first and second year on hormone therapy. Their strength levels will significantly drop, but will never fully equal an average cis-woman’s, they said.
  • What critics (including teammates) say: Her male-at-birth assignment gives her an unfair biological advantage, like height, increased lung capacity, and strength.
  • What supporters say: She’s successful because she’s a hardworking athlete, not because she’s trans. She's earned her spot to compete, and isn't stealing a place from other women.
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Some of Thomas’ critics — including nearly half of her teammates — argue that her male-at-birth assignment gives her an unfair biological advantage in the pool. Her supporters say that because she has followed all eligibility protocols, including taking testosterone suppressants and estrogen enhancers for nearly 34 months now, she has a right to compete.

Thomas and Penn coach Mike Schnur have declined to speak with the media this week.

Thomas is expected to face off against Yale University’s Iszac Henig Saturday in the 100-yard freestyle. When they raced in a regular-season meet in January, Henig beat Thomas by about two seconds.

Henig, a transgender man, won the 50-yard freestyle Thursday and also posted a Blodgett Pool record.

He remains eligible to compete on the women’s team because he has not yet begun taking any testosterone hormones. He has said in other interviews that he put hormone therapy on hold to continue competing on a team that means a lot to him.

Thomas is also expected to race as the top seed in the 1,650-yard freestyle Saturday, the final day of the championship meet. For most of the swimmers, this marks the end of the season. But Thomas has one more shot after this, as she heads to the NCAA championships in Atlanta next month.