"Another Lia Thomas story, girls are gaslit but not staying quiet" - Riley Gaines on transgender athlete joining Ranaoke College women's swimming team
Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines has praised female athletes at Virginia's Roanoke College for fighting against the inclusion of a transgender athlete.
After a transgender student joined the women's swimming team, Kate Pearson, Lily Mullens, and Bailey Gallagher, the three captains of the swim squad, protested the move.
"There's so many 'grown ups' around that should be making these decisions. That's part of their job. It was just a hot mess - I was like, what is happening. We kept getting put in these situations, and it was so stressful, and every single night we were discussing this through, discussing that," Kate Pearson, captain of the sophomore team, told the Daily Mail.
"I was going to bed at 3am just thinking about it, thinking what could happen, what couldn't happen, constantly stressed, crying just all the time. Every single day. We just could not get a break from it - and we have studies. There's no blueprint for this, which is also why we want to stand up and get our voices heard," she added.
Having previously competed in the men's team, the trans student decided to join the women's team after sitting out the previous season while transitioning. This is pretty similar to Lia Thomas' case. Thomas became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I national championship last year.
When the news caught Riley Gaines' eyes, she took to social media to praise the female athletes for fighting for their rights.
"Another Lia Thomas story but at Roanoke College. Mediocre man joins the womens team -> girls are gaslit by their university into thinking theyre the problem. But they're not staying quiet. I'm so proud of these girls for being so unified," she wrote on X.
Riley Gaines criticizes transgender athletes for skipping Swimming World Cup in Berlin
Despite World Aquatics announcing that there will be a new open category at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Berlin, giving chances for swimmers of all sex and gender identities to take part, there were no takers.
Swimming's governing body started a new open category after it decided to ban trans athletes from all-female events. However, the open category saw no takers.
Riley Gaines took to social media to criticize transgender athletes for not taking the chance to compete fairly at the event.
"World Aquatics & FINA created an Open Category for swimming at the World Cup to accommodate both fairness and inclusion. There wasn't a single entry. Very revealing as to what the real motivation is. Can't cheat, won't compete," she wrote on X.