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Who is Catherine Buroker? Fans hail Penn swimmer as 'TRUE' Ivy League champion

Trans swimmer Lia Thomas won the 500-yard freestyle race at the Ivy League championships, while sophomore Catherine Buroker took second place

Penn swimmer Lia Thomas won the 500-yard freestyle race at the Ivy League championships on Thursday night, February 17, swimming neck to neck with her competitors for the first part of the race. Thomas took a lead around the halfway mark and finished in 4 minutes, 37.32 seconds. 

Penn sophomore Catherine Buroker was in second place and posted a time of 4:44.83, which is a seasonal best. Social media, however, has hailed Buroker as the 'true' winner, a belief that has stemmed from a lot of controversies that have surrounded transgender swimmer  Thomas in recent times. Thomas, 22, is a swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania who has been shattering women’s records at the school. Thomas competed for three years at Penn as a man, Will Thomas, before the transition.

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At a meet on November 20 last year, Thomas had a 1:43:47 time in the 200-meter freestyle and 4:35:06 in the 500-meter freestyle. These times, which were records for Penn, would have placed Thomas second and third, respectively in the NCAA Women’s Championships. Thomas breaking women’s records has, like always, raised questions about how fair it is when people who are born as men compete as women. There has been a lot of debate surrounding what is fair on the field, the court, the track, and in the pool. 

Who is Catherine Buroker?

Catherine Buroker, from Trumbull, Connecticut, is a sophomore distance swimmer on the women’s swimming and diving team. She has been awarded All-American honors by the Collegiate Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America -- becoming the first Penn women’s swimmer to be named an All-American. 

Buroker was placed second at the Ivy League Championships in Providence, Rhode Island, in February in the 1,000 free (9:39.60) and 1,650 free (16:09.76), and third in the 500 free (4:45.58). The swimmer broke her own record in the 1,000 free and 1,650 free.

The NCAA Championships, scheduled for March 18-21 at the University of Georgia, was canceled due to the ongoing pandemic. Qualifying for the 500 free and the 1,650 free for the second year in a row, Buroker became the second Penn women’s swimmer to qualify for the NCAA Championships two times. 

'Catherine Buroker was the actual winner'

Owing to all the controversy that Thomas has been in the midst of, social media has dubbed Buroker as the actual champion. "Catherine Buroker had the fastest time for a biological female and should be the IVY Champion in the 500 free. @pennathletics decision to allow Thomas to compete in the Ivy Championships is a clear message to Catherine and her biological teammates that they don’t matter," one user wrote. "This is a man competing against women at Penn State University. Catherine Buroker was the actual winner. Men competing in women’s sports is the ultimate form of misogyny. End of Empires comes next," another commented.

One user said, "Today Catherine Buroker after years of hard work and dedication won the women’s 500free Ivy League championship Unfortunately her accomplishment was stolen be a man who claims to be a woman despite being a part of @PennSwimDive as a male swimmer just 3 yrs ago", while another commented, "Congrats to Catherine Buroker for being the fastest woman in the competition!" "Congrats on getting first place Catherine Buroker. I’m sorry that the disgraceful woman-hating and science-denying Ivy League allowed the spectacle of having a huge dude swim along with you," one user commented.