Penn Quakers swimmer Lia Thomas wins 200-meter freestyle for 2nd title at Ivy League women's swimming championship

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Lia Thomas of the University of Pennsylvania won her second title at the Ivy League Swimming and Diving Championships on Friday night, setting a meet record in the 200 yard freestyle.

Thomas won the race in 1 minute, 43.12 seconds, almost 3 seconds faster than Harvard'sSamantha Shelton. Molly Hamlin finished third in the race.

Shelton extended her hand over the lane line to wish Thomas a happy birthday. On the podium, Thomas high-fived and posed with Penn's other two swimmers in the final.

The record for the Ivy League Championships was set in 2020 by Harvard's Miki Dahlke. The previous pool record was set by Dahlke.

The first swimmer to win two individual events at the Ivy Championships was Thomas. Thomas set a pool record in the 500-yard freestyle.

The times that Thomas won the Ivy titles were off her best times of the season. In December, Thomas set the nation's best times in the 200 and 500 at the Zippy Invite, which qualified her for the NCAA Championships in Atlanta.

Thomas has been at the center of a debate about who gets to compete and win in women's sports. Thomas spent three seasons on the men's team at Penn. Several of Thomas' teammates spoke out in support of her and against her inclusion on the women's team. One teammate, Penn senior Andie Myers, has publicly declared her support for Thomas, wearing a face mask with the trans flag on it.

Thomas has turned down many interview requests. The swimmers were not available for interviews after the race.

Thomas swam the final leg of the 400 medley relay for Penn, which finished fourth.

Thomas is expected to swim in either the 100 or 1,650 freestyle on Saturday. She is the top seed in the 1,650 and second seed in the 100.