Female swimmers sue to strip trans athlete Lia Thomas of medals

It comes after Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports

Lia Thomas broke several women’s records at the Ivy League Championship meet in 2022 – Brett Davis/USA TODAY Sports

Three former Ivy League swimmers have filed a lawsuit to strip their transgender teammate of her medals.

Former members of the University of Pennsylvania women’s swim team said they were left “emotionally traumatised” by training with transgender athlete Lia Thomas and have called for her records to be scrubbed, according to the suit.

Grace Estabrook, Ellen Holmquist and Margot Kaczorowski are suing their alma mater, Harvard University, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Ivy League Council of Presidents.

They accused the institutions of breaching their Title IX rights by permitting Ms Thomas to swim against women and share their changing rooms during the 2021-22 season, according to the lawsuit obtained by Fox News.

Title XI laws protect against gender discrimination in schools and were extended in 2024 by the Biden administration to encompass transgender and LGBTQ+ people.

During her time competing for UPenn, Ms Thomas broke several women’s records at the Ivy League Championship meet in 2022, which was hosted at Harvard University.

The lawsuit, in which Ms Thomas was not named as a defendant, was filed on Tuesday after Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.

Young athletes surround Donald Trump as he signs the executive order – JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

The lawsuit claimed that the team was initially told they would not be sharing a changing room with Ms Thomas, but that the university soon changed its policy.

“Margot [Kaczorowski] only learned that Thomas had been authorised by UPenn to use the women’s locker room when she walked in the women’s locker room to find Thomas in front of her changing his clothing,” it adds.

According to the lawsuit, Ms Kaczorowski confronted Mike Schnur, the team’s head coach, in tears following the incident, and that the coach responded by saying “I know it’s wrong but there’s nothing I can do”.

“Coach Schnur told the Plaintiffs he would be fired by UPenn if he did not allow Thomas to use the women’s locker room and compete on the women’s swim team,” the lawsuit alleges.

It adds that UPenn administrators invited the female athletes to a talk titled “Trans 101” that suggested raising concerns about having a trans-identifying biological male that had a “psychological problem and needed counselling”.