NCAA All-American swimmer and leading defender of women’s sports Riley Gaines spoke to a sold-out crowd of Minnesotans Thursday night in Golden Valley.
“I got to personally witness and really feel the effect that this infringement had on myself, on my teammates and my competitors,” said Gaines, who was invited to speak by the Center of the American Experiment.
A recent University of Kentucky graduate, she rose to prominence in 2022 after she was forced to compete against Lia Thomas, a biological male who identifies as a woman.
Gaines said Thomas was a “mediocre male swimmer, running 462nd in the year prior among the men.” He was not even “remotely close to qualifying for national championships” as a male swimmer, Gaines said.
As a “female” athlete, however, Thomas won the 500-yard freestyle national championship.
Gaines explained how she went from being confused about the issue to “heartbroken.”
“I was watching prelims, and there was this girl, her name was Reka,” Gaines told the crowd. “She was a fifth-year. Because of Covid we got an extra year of eligibility and why anyone would take it, I don’t know, but Reka did. She’s from Hungary and I asked her, I’m like, ‘Why did you take your fifth year?’ And she said, ‘Well, I wanted to become an All American. It’s been a goal of mine.’
“I didn’t know her very well, but I knew who she was and we’re watching this final heat and she’s kind of on the edge of her seat because she knows she’s going to be right on the cusp of making top 16. I will never forget, we watched this last heat come in where Thomas was swimming, blows everyone out of the water of course. Reka looks up at the scoreboard and realizes she got 17th. This is when my feelings shifted entirely,” Gaines said.
Reka then grabbed Gaines’ hand with tears running down her face and said: “I just got beat by someone who didn’t even have to try.”
“I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. That’s when my feelings really shifted to heartbreak,” Gaines said.
.@Riley_Gaines_: "Nobody is trying to ban trans people from sports… everyone just needs to play where is fair and where is safe."
From an American Experient event on 7/6/23 pic.twitter.com/SSZk8FnX7v
— Center of the American Experiment (@MNThinkTank) July 7, 2023
Gaines also addressed her April appearance at San Francisco State University, where she was allegedly assaulted by trans activists and forced to barricade herself in a locked room, according to the Daily Wire.
“I have no hate in my heart for anyone … I have compassion in my heart for the people who are struggling with this delusion,” she said. “Their delusion is being affirmed through a lie, and that’s the opposite of what loving is. Loving is to tell the truth.”
.@Riley_Gaines_ doesn't hate the protesters who took her hostage in San Francisco, she wants to pray for them.
"I have no hate in my heart for anyone… I have compassion in my heart for the people who are struggling with this delusion… Their delusion is being affirmed… pic.twitter.com/VSpGd1SqjJ
— Center of the American Experiment (@MNThinkTank) July 7, 2023
During the Q-and-A portion of the event, Gaines urged other female athletes to speak up and said she is losing her sympathy for those who refuse to do so.
.@Riley_Gaines_ on why other well-known athletes aren't speaking up:
"For a while I had sympathy… but now, after seeing more women get injured, get exploited in locker rooms, and lose out on opportunities, I don't have that same empathy in my heart. We need more people to… pic.twitter.com/NJYb6tR83W
— Center of the American Experiment (@MNThinkTank) July 7, 2023
Watch the full event here:
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
