Riley Gaines thought she'd be entering her second year of dental school at this point in her life, not testifying in front of a Senate committee. But her life was "flipped upside down" after she tied transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in last year's NCAA finals.
"This experience, and really taking a public stance in common sense quite frankly, has drastically changed my life," Gaines told Fox News.
"I still don't know what my future looks like," she added. "This is something I constantly pray about. I just ask God to put me where I am needed. But my life, it's been totally flipped upside down."
Since tying for fifth with Thomas in the 200-meter swimming championship last year, Gaines has become a central figure in the heated political battle over whether transgender athletes should be allowed to compete against biological females. Last month, Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer, testified before a Senate panel. She argued that women's spaces should be reserved for biological females, which she said would ensure fairness.
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"It really hit me that if we as female athletes aren't willing to stick up for ourselves, how can we expect someone else to stick up for us?" she said.
Debates over transgender athletes' inclusion in female sports at all ages and levels have intensified across the country. Advocates for inclusivity argue it's discriminatory to exclude trans athletes, while those fighting to keep women's sports reserved for biological females say it's dangerous and unfair to allow them to compete.
Gaines began swimming at age four and had her sights set on being a champion ever since.
"I've dedicated 18 years of my life to my sport, dedicated 18 years of my life to achieving maximum performance," she said. "There's so much that goes into competing at the highest level."
Gaines was having a breakout season her sophomore year when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March 2020, just weeks before the Women’s Swimming NCAA Championship. The competition was canceled, and her hopes of winning a national title were put on pause.
"When we were told we were being sent home, it was a really scary feeling," Gaines recalled. "Pools were closed, gyms were closed. There was no way to continue improving in your sport."
For months during the pandemic lockdowns, Gaines would get up every day, put on a wetsuit and swim for miles around a lake near her home in Nashville to maintain her swimming. Gaines said her dedication gave her an advantage over many competitors and teammates who had all taken a few months off.
RILEY GAINES MOCKS MESSAGE APPARENTLY SENT TO HARVARD SWIM TEAM ABOUT LIA THOMAS
She had another breakout season after returning to school her junior year. Upon entering her senior year, she was focused on earning a national title.
"I knew I could accomplish even more than I had my junior year," Gaines told Fox News. "This is when I really set a goal to become a national champion."
Halfway through her senior season, Gaines was ranked third in the country for the women’s 200-yard freestyle. But she didn't recognize the name holding first place.
"This was the first time that I became aware of a swimmer named Lia Thomas," Gaines said. "Unbeknownst to me at the time, this was a male."
"There's a lot of head scratching going on," she added. "This person came out of nowhere their senior year. They were leading the country by multiple seconds in multiple events."
Gaines soon learned that Lia Thomas was formerly named Will Thomas and swam for the University of Pennsylvania men’s team before transitioning.
"We saw this was a mediocre male swimmer at best, ranking the year prior 462nd nationally among the men," Gaines said. "I felt a sense of relief because I thought the NCAA would see this, exactly how I saw it, exactly how anyone would see it."
Gaines hoped Thomas wouldn't be eligible to compete in the NCAA due to her recent transition. But just a few weeks before the March 2022 competition, it was announced that Thomas would compete.
"It was this sense of helplessness," Gaines said. "It almost felt as if we were going into the race with our hands tied behind our back."
It felt like those responsible for ensuring athletes could compete fairly and safely were betraying her, her teammates and her competitors, Gaines said.
In addition to tying Gaines for fifth in the women’s 200 freestyle, Thomas also won the 500-yard freestyle. Gaines said she was finally done being silent after officials at the tournament told her Thomas would pose with and take home the fifth-place trophy and that she would receive one in the mail at a later date.
"I knew the unfair competition was wrong," she said. "But when this official reduced everything I'd worked my entire life for down to a photo-op to validate the feelings of a male at the Women's National Championship, that's when I was done waiting for someone else to speak up."
Even though the two swimmers tied, Thomas is listed ahead of Gaines on the official results page, indicating that Thomas touched ahead of Gaines by less than one-hundredth of a second.
"Truthfully, up until this point, I was waiting for a coach to say something, a parent, another swimmer, someone within the NCAA, someone with political power, someone else to stand up for us," she added.
Just days after the competition, Gaines spoke out about her experience competing against Thomas and her concerns about how female athletes had been negatively affected.
Gaines said she delayed her plans to attend dental school after college so she could dedicate her time to fight to protect women’s spaces. Now a spokeswoman for the Independent Women's Forum, Gaines is a leading voice in the fight to keep transgender athletes out of women’s sports.
To watch the full interview with Gaines, click here.
