The first participation of a transgender woman in JJ.OO.
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(CNN) --
A letter written on behalf of 16 members of the University of Pennsylvania swim team was sent to the university and the Ivy League on Thursday asking them not to take legal action to challenge the University's new transgender athlete participation policies. the NCAA.
The letter was written by Nancy Hogshead-Makar, CEO of Champion Women and Olympic champion swimmer, on behalf of 16 swim team members.
New NCAA policies could prevent swimmer Lia Thomas from competing at the NCAA championships in March.
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Thomas, a transgender woman who swims for the Quakers women's swim team, won the women's 100 and 200-yard freestyle at Harvard last month and set record times on the women's team this season.
She previously competed on the Penn men's swim team and underwent two years of hormone therapy.
In the letter obtained by CNN, members of the swim team say they feel she has an "unfair advantage over the competition."
"We fully support Lia Thomas in her decision to affirm her gender identity and transition from male to female. Lia has every right to live her life authentically," the letter says.
"However, we also recognize that when it comes to competitive sports, the biology of sex is a separate issue from someone's gender identity. Biologically, Lia has an unfair advantage over her competition in the female category, as His rankings prove it, which has gone from No. 462 as a man to No. 1 as a woman."
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The identities of the team members were not released.
The new NCAA policy states that transgender athletes will now have mandatory testosterone testing, starting in the 2022-23 academic year, at the start of their season and again six months later, under rules approved this week by the governing board. of the NCAA.
In addition, they will have to undergo the tests four weeks before the national team championships.
The NCAA previously required transgender women to undergo testosterone suppression treatment for a year before competing on a women's team.
Penn Athletics said it will work with the NCAA regarding Thomas' participation in the 2022 swimming and diving championships in March.
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The Ivy League said it does not "respond publicly to letters sent to our office."
CNN reached out to the school for comment but did not immediately hear back prior to publication of this story.
The letter comes after several members of UPenn's swimming and diving team expressed their support for Thomas earlier this week.
"We want to express our full support for Lia in her transition," the athletes said via ESPN.
"We value her as an individual, teammate and friend. The sentiments expressed by an anonymous member of our team do not represent the sentiments, values and opinions of the entire Penn team, made up of 39 women from diverse backgrounds."
UPenn is scheduled to compete February 16-19 at the Ivy League Championships at Harvard.
Thomas qualified for the NCAA championships, which are scheduled for March 16-19 in Atlanta.
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