AKRON, Ohio – The University of Pennsylvania women's swimming and diving team opened action at the 2021 Zippy Invitational on Friday. After six events, the Quakers are in second place with a total score of 506 points.

Lia Thomas had another strong day in the pool for the Red and Blue. During the prelims, she set a new pool and meet record in the 500 free. In the finals she swam more than 12 seconds faster, finishing in first place with a time of 4:34.06. That time is currently the best in the country in the event. Her mark was also a new program record. 

Quaker Notemeal
*The Penn 200 free relay quartet of Lia Thomas, Margot Kaczorowski, Keara McGowan and Hannah Kannan finished fourth with a time of 1:32.23.

*The Quakers had five swimmers compete in the A final of the 500 free. Finishing second in the race behind Thomas was Anna Kalandadze with a time of 4:48.99. The other results in the 500 free for the Quakers were Amelia Girotto in fifth (4:55.47), Grace Giddings in sixth (4:55.84) and Anna Boeckman in eighth (5:05.08).

*Izzy Pytel finished seventh in the A final of 200 IM with a time of 2:02.70. Vanessa Chong won the B final and Anna Boeckman came in second in the B final the event.

*Lia Thomas also added a fifth-place finish in the 50 free with a time of 22.95.

*Olivia Francella won the B final of the 1M diving event with a score of 225.80.

*The Quaker 400 medley relay of Hannah Kannan, Izzy Pytel, Vanessa Chong and Lia Thomas finished fourth with a time of 3:42.17.  

*The 2021 Zippy Invitational features a 10-team field on the women's side including Ivy League rival Cornell.

Up Next
The Quakers continue with day two of the Zippy Invitational on Saturday. Prelims get started at 9:00 a.m. and finals get underway at 6:00 p.m.