The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) has banned trans swimmer Lia Thomas from future competition and removed her from the university’s swimming records, following a controversial agreement with the Trump administration. The 26-year-old, who became the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I title in 2022, has also been stripped of the honours she achieved during her time on the women’s team.

The move comes after the Trump administration threatened to cut federal funding to UPenn unless it erased Thomas’s achievements. In return, the administration has reportedly dropped a civil rights case that accused the university of discriminating against cisgender female athletes.

UPenn has since issued an apology to swimmers who they claim “lost out on” titles and records during the 2021–2022 swim season. The university also confirmed it would be sending personalised letters of apology to every “impacted female” athlete.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Lia Thomas (@liakthomas)

In a statement, UPenn President J. Larry Jameson said, “While Penn’s policies during the 2021–2022 swim season were in accordance with NCAA eligibility rules at the time, we acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules.”

The current NCAA guidelines allow all student athletes, regardless of gender assigned at birth, to compete in the men’s category, as long as they meet all other NCAA eligibility requirements. However, the women’s category is restricted to student-athletes assigned female at birth, unless they have begun hormone therapy treatments such as testosterone. Athletes who fall outside these criteria may still train with women’s teams and retain benefits, but may not compete in women’s championships.

The university’s actions regarding Lia Thomas reflect a shift in policy following the Trump administration’s narrower interpretation of Title IX, a civil rights law designed to protect against sex-based discrimination in education. While the Biden administration extended Title IX protections to transgender students, the Trump-era view asserts those protections apply only to biological sex.

By Tuesday, July 1, UPenn’s athletics website had removed Thomas’s name from its swimming records. Her past achievements are now accompanied by a disclaimer stating, “Competing under eligibility rules in effect at the time, Lia Thomas set programme records in the 100, 200 and 500 freestyle during the 2021–22 season.”