RILEY GAINES | Swimming Against the Current (Ep. 607)

In this episode, we welcome Riley Gaines to the show. She is a 12x All-American and champion collegiate swimmer, a womens’/girls’ rights advocate, and America’s most sought-after voice in the fight to save female sports. She swam for the University of Kentucky where she won multiple titles and awards. At the 2022 NCAA Division 1 Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships, her life changed forever. She finished the final for the 200-meter freestyle championship, and when she looked up at the board, it showed that she had actually tied someone for 5th place. That someone? A University of Pennsylvania swimmer named Lia Thomas, formerly known as Will Thomas who had previously competed on the men’s team. After that, Riley spoke out against the fact that she had to compete against a biological male and how no other females should be subjected to that treatment. In this interview, we discuss what it was like growing up in a family of high-level athletes, when she and her team became aware of Lia Thomas, what it was like being forced to change in the same locker room as Thomas who freely displayed his male genitalia while present, what was going through her head when she saw that she had tied him in her championship race, the NCAA refusing to allow her to receive and be pictured with the trophy she earned, why she decided to speak out against men competing in women’s sports, the vitriol she experiences online and at speaking engagements for standing up for basic truths, how her Christian faith is sustaining her as she fights for the rights of women and girls, what parents can and should do to support their girls as they strive to participate in fair competitions, what’s next for her, and much more. Let’s get into it… 

Episode notes and links HERE.

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