Transgender swimmers post fastest times at Ivy League championships

Transgender swimmers Lia Thomas and Iszac Henig had the top two times in the 800-yard freestyle at this week’s Ivy League Championships.

Transgender swimmers Lia Thomas and Iszac Henig had the top two times in the 800-yard freestyle at this week’s Ivy League Swimming and Diving Championships.

Penn’s Thomas and Yale’s Henig started the events for their respective squads. Thomas, who transitioned from male to female, got a bit of a challenge from Henig, who is transitioning from female to male and competing as a woman. Thomas swam behind Henig for much of the first leg before the next Penn swimmer jumped into the water.

Stream Over 50 Sports Live & On-Demand with Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

Thomas was barely in first place after the first leg, finishing with a 1:44.50 while Henig had a 1:44.65 in the two fastest splits of the competition.

Neither team, though, would win the overall race with Harvard rallying for the victory. Yale finished second and Penn’s team, which also included Margot Kaczorowski, Anna Sofia Kalandadze and Bridget O’Leary, finished third.

Yale University swimmer Isaac Henig. Photo by Kathryn Riley/Getty Images

At the awards ceremony, fans could be heard cheering for the Quakers as the team was announced for third place. Thomas and her teammates were posing for pictures while on the medals stand.

Penn finished in fifth place in the 200-yard medley. Princeton won that event.

Earlier in the week, Thomas blitzed her rivals on the way to victory in the 500-yard (457m) freestyle event, winning her first ever individual title.

She clocked a time of 4:37.32 to establish a new record at the pool, breaking the mark set by 2012 Olympian Kate Ziegler.

The 22-year-old had previously competed for the university as Will Thomas before transitioning to a female in 2019.

She has undergone two years of hormone replacement as part of the process.

University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas. Photo by Kathryn Riley/Getty Images

The Ivy League Championships are set to run from Wednesday to Saturday. Harvard is leading the championships overall with Princeton, Yale, Penn and Brown rounding out the top five.

Thomas has been drawn into the national spotlight due to the debate over whether transgender female athletes should be able to compete against biological females in sporting events. She received the all-clear to compete in the conference championships in the days leading up to it.

She is expected to compete in several individual events over the course of the week, including the 200 free, 500 free, 1000 free and 1650 free.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission