University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines tied with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in the 200-yard freestyle NCAA swimming championships last month and is now speaking out about where women’s sports are headed.
During an interview with Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) on her podcast, “Unmuted with Marsha,” Gaines explained, “There are so many girls who feel the exact same way as I do but are told they can’t say anything or they’re scared to say anything because today’s culture is such a cancel culture… and they don’t want to risk their future.”
She added, “The majority of us female athletes, or females in general, really, are not OK with this, and they’re not OK with the trajectory of this and how this is going and how it could end up in a few years.”
After the competition, Gaines left without a trophy because officials presented it to Thomas instead.
“I walked back [to get my trophy] and the NCAA official came up to me, and he said, ‘Hey, that was a great swim. We only have one fifth place trophy,’ which I understood, I get how that works. But he said, ‘We’re gonna have to give the trophy to Lia. Yours will be coming in the mail. Great job,'” Gaines said.
She added, “I was kind of taken aback, and I don’t think he necessarily expected me to really question it.”
Gaines told Blackburn she did not think “they handled this properly, but I don’t think they were prepared, you know, to handle this kind of situation, and so they were faced with something they were unsure what to do with.”
The swimmer explained she looked at the official and said, “‘This is the women’s 200-yard freestyle, and Lia won a national title last night, and I have worked every day for the past four years for this.'”
Gaines suggested people do not realize “only the top 1% of, you know, female college athletes make it to this meet. That, in and of itself, is a huge deal, but you have to fight for every point there, and I was kind of just frustrated with how it was handled and how they kind of addressed me.”
Last month, Thomas finished first in the 500-yard freestyle and became the first known transgender athlete to win a Division I national championship.
Others have come out criticizing Thomas. Responding to the criticism, Thomas said, “I’m a woman, so I belong on the women’s team. Trans people deserve that same respect every other athlete gets.”