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The University of Pennsylvania took quick measures on Tuesday to adhere to the Resolution Agreement achieved with the Office of Civil Rights of the United States Department of Education after an investigation found that UPENN violated title IX during the 2021-22 season due to the inclusion of the transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.
As part of that resolution, UPENN agreed to restore individual titles and records to those female athletes that were “embezzled by male athletes allowed to compete in female categories.”
The transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, left, of the University of Pennsylvania is on the podium after winning the freestyle of 500 yards such as other medalists, from left to right, Emma Weyant, Erica Sullivan and Brooke Forde Pose for a possess (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
However, although the university’s website was updated to eliminate the name of Thomas from a trio of records that the old swimmer established during that season, the website still recognized the Thomas Registry with a note on the NCAA eligibility rules at that time.
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“Note: competing under eligibility rules in force at that time, Lia Thomas established records of the program in the freestyle of 100, 200 and 500 during the 2021-22 season,” said the annotation.
Thomas became the first openly transgender athlete to win a title of Division I of the NCAA. During the competition, Thomas established multiple individual records, including the 500 -yards freestyle that resulted in a national title.
According to the UPENN website, Anna Kalandadze’s record of 4: 37.21 established in 2024 in 500 free was restored as the new record. Kayla Fu, a first -year student at UPENN, had her 2025 record in the 100 freely restored as the new record.
The transgender athlete Lia Thomas observes after winning the freestyle of 500 female yards during the Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship of Division I 2022 NCAA at the Mcauley Aquatic Center on the Campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology on March 17, 2022 in Atlanta. (Photos of Mike Eat/NCAA through Getty Images)
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In addition, the former UPENN swimmer, Virginia Burns, who established the 200 200 record with a time of 1: 45.51 in 2017, had her restored record as the best moment.
The Department of Education previously launched an investigation into UPENN on February 6. The Trump administration later froze $ 175 million in funds for school on March 20 for not complying with an executive order. Then, on April 28, the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Education announced that its investigation concluded that UPENN violated title IX in its management of the situation of Thomas.
As a result of this week’s resolution agreement, UPENN agreed to restore records and apologize for female athletes impacted by those violations.
Lia Thomas of Pennsylvania applaud for teammates who compete in the 1650 -yard freestyle final in the Ivy League swimming and diving championship in Harvard on Saturday, February 19, 2022 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Photo AP/Mary Schwalm)
“While Penn’s policies during the 2021-2022 swimming season agreed with the NCAA eligibility rules at that time, we recognize that some athlete students were at a disadvantage for these rules,” said Penn President J. Larry Jameson on a statement published by the University.
“We recognize this and we will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or anxiety experienced due to the policies in force at that time.”
