Swimmer Riley Gaines has been in the news for her recent feud with NCAA. Riley blasted NCAA for allowing transgender swimmer Lia Thomas to compete with other females in the country. Gaines alleged that the female swimmers were extremely uncomfortable with sharing the locker room with Lia Thomas.
So what is the reason behind all the chatter? Lia Thomas, who was born a male, competed in men’s swimming competitions previously. However, she now competes as a female and won the 500 freestyle competition. Lia then went on to compete in the 200 freestyle and she tied with Riley Gaines. However, Thomas walked away with the trophy and it sparked a massive outage among the fans.
Even former UFC legend Jake Shields jumped in to support Riley Gaines and slammed the NCAA for letting Lia Thomas compete. Gaines also went on to write an op-ed on Fox News, where she made some shocking revelations. Gaines alleged that she and the other female members had to change in front of Lia Thomas who still had her male genitalia.
Although NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) did not address the locker room issue, they have made some changes to their existing rules. In case of a tie, the winner will now be decided based on their date of birth! It means, whoever is the elder athlete between the two, would walk away with the title. However, the other athlete will only receive a replica trophy for photoshoot purposes.
Fans support Riley Gaines as she takes on NCAA
Needless to say, the change in rule from NCAA did not go down well with Riley Gaines. She took to Twitter and questioned NCAA’s “leadership” and “accountability.” She also called them “cowards” for not going back on their decision to let Lia Thomas compete against other female athletes around the country. Instead, Riley feels as if NCAA is doubling down on “their position of allowing a man” to go up against women.
They could have enforced rules that ensure women don't have to compete and change in a locker room with men, but instead found it more necessary to double down in their position of allowing a man to take the trophy from a woman who worked her whole life to get there. Cowards.
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) February 25, 2023
Riley previously made her points as to why Lia Thomas should not compete with female swimmers. Aside from the discomfort female athletes have sharing their locker rooms, Riley also pointed out some of the physical advantages Lia has over other biological females. To illustrate her point, Gaines added that Lia stands at 6’4.
On sharing a locker room with fully intact Lia Thomas: “We were not forewarned. We were not asked for our consent and we did not give our consent.”
— Greg 🇺🇸🇬🇷🏳️🌈🤴🏻👑🍿🍿🍿🍿 (@gregissnacking) February 17, 2023
Where is the feminist outrage about this? Women are being erased and they’re silent. Fucking pathetic. pic.twitter.com/d0ITvyI1Jz
She also pointed to Lia Thomas’ record as a male athlete and revealed that Lia occupied the 462nd rank. But in her short time as a female swimmer, she has already trumped all the other notable female swimmers in the country. Hence, Riley, who is a 12-time NCAA all-American and a 5-time SEC champ, is strongly against Lia Thomas’ inclusion in the sport. She is also receiving a lot of support from the fans.
Here are some reactions on the matter
U win that race. You are the national champ. Please keep fighting!!! That dude was 466 in the nation before he put on a girl's suit. @Riley_Gaines_ u rock!!!!
— Chris Chiappetta (@identifyasvaxed) February 25, 2023
The NCAA has always been a feckless organization….they have never supported the student-athlete but have aligned themselves with woke ideology
— Tony Jones (@wajones99) February 25, 2023
So an athlete can identify as an older person to win the tie.
— Wordsweep (@wordsweep299) February 25, 2023
The NCAA and soon professional sports will have two categories: men, and men who aren’t good enough to compete with other men.
— Sam Spade (@Liber2y) February 25, 2023
Seems simple enough, right?
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) February 25, 2023
What is your take on the matter? Do you think Riley Gaines is right? Or do you support Lia Thomas’ venture in the women’s division? Let us know in the comments down below.
