American swimmer Riley Gaines has filed a complaint for competing with a transgender rival

American swimmer, 12-time collegiate champion Railey Gaines spoke loudly in the state of Virginia during the introduction of a bill for the equality in women’s sport when questioning the participation in tournaments of his same division to the transgender athlete Lia Thomas and laid out what he went through months ago with his rival and with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the entity he believes intentionally allowed this to happen.

In his address to the authorities, a representative of the University of Kentucky and one of the top 200 butterfly swimmers aiming directly at her opponent. Gaines started his speech tough. “My teammates and I, along with the rest of the swimmers across the country, we were forced to compete against a biologically male person named Lia Thomas.”said the athlete.

The competition was held on March 17, 2022 in the so-called Ivy League in which the top eight universities in the Northwestern United States participate. Thomas was there to represent Pennsylvania, still in the process of physical transformation, and turned heads as he demonstrated his supremacy over the rest of his opponents and broke records held by world swimming stars such as Katie Ledecky.

“Thomas was cleared to swim in the women’s competition after competing for three years on the men’s team at the University of Pennsylvania. From the poolside, we watched Thomas win the 500m freestyle breaking records for the nation’s most accomplished swimmers, including record holders and Olympians,” the swimmer continued.

Riley Gaines watches Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer who won the lawsuit at the college swimming championships (Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports)
Riley Gaines watches Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer who won the lawsuit at the college swimming championships (Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports)

The highlight moment for Gaines would come in the 200 freestyle, an event in which he came face to face with Thomas. “We finished tied, we did exactly the same time to the nearest hundredth of a second. With just one trophy, the NCAA told me I was going home empty-handed and that trophy would go to Thomas. When I questioned him, they explained to me that Thomas had to hold this trophy for the photo. I was shocked. I felt belittled and betrayed, reduced to a mere photograph because my feelings didn’t matter, only those of the NCAA and a biological man mattered.”

Gaines complaint to NCAA “Gender Discrimination” for having allowed, according to him, a transgender athlete like Thomas to supplant female swimmers in the discipline and on the podium. But that was not all. There was still one chapter left for the athlete.

“In addition to being forced to forfeit our awards, titles and opportunities, the NCAA requires that swimmers share the locker room with Thomas, a 22-year-old man measuring 1.93 meters with fully intact male genitalia. Let it be clear that no one warned us and that we did not give our consent. It is a violation of our privacy and some of us have been embarrassed, inconvenienced, violated and even traumatized by this situation.. I know I don’t speak for everyone, but I can testify to the tears shed in this pool,” he concluded from his podium.

Lia Thomas, the University of Pennsylvania swimmer who sparked controversy in the United States (Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports)
Lia Thomas, the University of Pennsylvania swimmer who sparked controversy in the United States (Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports)

Continue reading:

Football is not to blame. The VAR, either
History: Men will be able to participate in artistic swimming at Paris 2024
“This sport is probably not for her”: the swimmer who fainted during the Swimming World Cup has been banned from competition
The desperate moment a coach saves a swimmer who passed out in the middle of the Swimming World Cup

Categorized in: