Riley Gaines and other former NCAA female athletes addressed Georgia lawmakers on Tuesday morning at the Special Committee on Protecting Women in Sports.
Gaines was joined at the hearing by Reka Giorgi, Kylie Arons, Grace County and Kaitlyn Wheeler. The five former swimmers spoke about their experiences at the championships and how they felt when they saw Leah Thomas, a transgender woman who was then swimming at the University of Pennsylvania, changing in the women's locker room.
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University of Pennsylvania swimmer Leah Thomas, left, and Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines react after finishing tied for fifth in the 200-meter freestyle final at the 2022 National Collegiate Swimming and Diving Championships at the Macquarie Aquatic Center on March 18, 2022 in Atlanta. (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
As the former Kentucky swimming star read the letter he wrote to Georgia Tech President Angel Cabrera, Gaines became emotional as she spoke about the “sexual harassment” she experienced.
“We did not consent to being exploited and exposed to a 6-foot-4, naked man,” she said. “Because of your inaction, that man entered the women's locker room at your university and watched me undress until I was completely naked.”
“You allowed female students on your campus to be traumatised and assaulted in this way. Why did you not protect us?”
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Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines spoke at the event. (Michael Clevenger/Courier Journal/USA Today Network)
At the end of the hearing, the female athletes were asked how they would address transgender participation in women's sports, a hot topic in Georgia and across the country.
“I believe the Legislature must act decisively to send a clear message that women are worthwhile,” she said. “You deserve to be called champions. You deserve privacy when you take off your clothes. You deserve safety in your sports. You deserve dignity. You have an opportunity to send a message to young girls that you will win, not just in Georgia, but more broadly across America.”
Riley Gaines, then a University of Kentucky swimmer, is reacting after finishing in a tie for fifth place with transgender swimmer Leah Thomas of the University of Pennsylvania in the 200-meter freestyle final at the 2022 National Collegiate Swimming and Diving Championships at the Macauley Aquatic Center in Atlanta on March 18, 2022. (Rich von Biberstein/Getty Images)
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Gaines also called on lawmakers on the committee to hold “accountability and responsibility” to everyone who allowed what happened at the 2022 NCAA Championship at Georgia Tech.
Georgia Tech released a statement to Fox News Digital after the hearing.
“Georgia Tech, as the host school, was the venue for the 2022 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. As standard practice for NCAA championships, the event was administered by the NCAA. We have cooperated with the committee and will continue to do so.”
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