UPDATE: Federal judge’s order prevents Hanover from eliminating women’s swim team

A federal judge has issued an order preventing Hanover College from eliminating its women’s swimming team for the current school year while a lawsuit over the team’s fate plays out.

U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker granted on Tuesday a motion for an emergency preliminary injunction from some swimmers who sued the Southern Indiana school in August. They are accusing it of violating a federal anti-discrimination law when it said in March that it would eliminate the men’s and women’s swim teams.

The plaintiffs in that case  — Tallulah Frazier, Shelby Geraghty, Lucy Schoenlein and Anna Williams — said in their lawsuit that Hanover’s decision was devastating and would worsen the disparity between opportunities for men and women to participate in sports.

They cite the federal law known as Title IX, which requires schools that receive federal funds to provide women and men equal opportunities to participate in athletics and equal athletic financial aid among other things.

Arthur Bryant, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, called the team’s elimination “a flagrant violation of Title IX” in a statement issued Wednesday evening.

College representative Peter Ashley said in August that the school’s decision to cut the teams was “due to low participation and financial unsustainability.”

Ashley said late Wednesday that Hanover had started the process of complying with the court ruling.

“Women’s sports are and will continue to be a valued aspect of campus life,” Ashley said in an email. “Hanover College takes its obligations under federal law seriously and will demonstrate the College’s commitment to comply with Title IX.”

“In this light, we find that there is a reduced likelihood that Hanover will suffer financial harm, even if the injunction is entered in error,” wrote the judge from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.