A ruling in the lawsuit filed by three former Penn swimmers over Lia Thomas’ participation in the 2022 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships will remain on hold.
The case was initially stayed in July 2025 pending a decision in Gaines v. NCAA, a similar suit challenging the NCAA’s former eligibility policies for transgender athletes. Although a judge dismissed Gaines’ allegations last month, Penn argued in favor of maintaining the stay, hoping to wait until the appeals process concludes.
On Wednesday, a federal court sided with the University and held the stay in place indefinitely.
A request for comment was left with a University spokesperson.
2022 College graduate Grace Estabrook, 2024 College graduate Margot Kaczorowski, and 2024 College graduate Ellen Holmquist — all of whom competed with Thomas during the 2021-22 women’s swimming and diving season — originally filed the lawsuit in February 2025.
The suit alleged that the defendants — currently just Penn and the NCAA — violated Title IX regulations by allowing Thomas to compete alongside them.
According to Penn’s Oct. 20 filing, the plaintiffs’ response to the Gaines v. NCAA ruling “confirms that any overlapping issues addressed by the Gaines judgment remain subject to alteration, amendment, or appeal.”
“Penn respectfully submits that the stay should remain in place until the Gaines proceedings have run their course to spare this Court and the parties from duplicative litigation and a waste of private and judicial resources, and to prevent conflicting rulings on overlapping issues,” the document read.
Penn initially asked the court to drop the case last April, writing that the plaintiffs “cannot establish causation against Penn” and that they “failed to plead that they suffered a concrete injury related to their claims.”
Shortly after the suit was originally filed, 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports. The order stated that any educational institution receiving federal funds “cannot deny women an equal opportunity to participate in sports.”
While the NCAA allowed transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports at the time of filing, the organization changed its policy shortly thereafter. Currently, students assigned male at birth may practice with women’s teams, but are not permitted to compete.
In July 2025, Penn reached a resolution with the Department of Education to settle an investigation into the same matter.
Since the agreement, the University has complied with the Department of Education’s demands — removing Thomas’ individual records, issuing a public statement noting their adoption of “biology-based definitions” of sex, and sending letters of apology to “each impacted female swimmer.”
Senior reporter Lavanya Mani covers legal affairs and can be reached at mani@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies comparative literature. Follow her on X @LavanyaMani_.
