From Tied Finish to Political Firestorm: How Riley Gaines Became a Leading Voice in the Anti-Trans Sports Movement
In just a few years, former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines has transformed a shared fifth-place finish with Lia Thomas—a groundbreaking transgender athlete—into a powerful and polarizing platform. Once relatively unknown outside the swimming world, Gaines is now a central figure in a nationwide push to exclude transgender women from female sports.
Her activism reached new heights this week following two significant victories. The University of Pennsylvania, where Thomas swam, agreed to comply with demands from the Trump administration to maintain federal funding—by erasing Thomas’ swimming records and banning future transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports at the school.
Additionally, UPenn must issue personal letters of apology to female swimmers who were allegedly impacted by Thomas’ participation.
A Shared Finish That Sparked a Movement
At the 2022 NCAA Championships, she tied Lia Thomas for fifth place in the 200-yard freestyle. Just a day earlier, Thomas made history as the first transgender athlete to win a Division I national title, taking gold in the 500-yard freestyle.
Though Gaines and Thomas shared the same finishing time, NCAA officials reportedly handed Thomas the fifth-place trophy for photo purposes and told Gaines she would receive hers in the mail. For Gaines, this moment symbolized what she described as institutional favoritism toward transgender athletes over women.
“That’s when it hit me that no one else is going to speak out about this,” Gaines later said in a YouTube interview. “I’m not someone who’s scared.”
Turning Controversy Into a Cause
Gaines’ frustration grew into a broader campaign, which she frames as a fight to “protect women’s sports.” She began speaking at rallies, launching a podcast titled Gaines for Girls, and partnering with conservative lawmakers and advocacy groups to push for bans on transgender women competing in female sports.
While scientific research on the subject remains limited, Gaines and her supporters argue that biology gives transgender women an edge—even after undergoing hormone therapy.
Yet the scenario Gaines is fighting against is exceedingly rare. NCAA President Charlie Baker told Congress in 2023 that fewer than 10 transgender athletes were competing across all collegiate sports out of more than 500,000 total athletes.
Despite this, the movement Gaines helped spark has gathered momentum. One of the most significant outcomes came earlier this year when Georgia’s Republican Governor Brian Kemp signed the “Riley Gaines Act” into law, effectively banning transgender girls and women.
Gaines stood beside the governor as he signed the bill, calling it a “protection” for women’s rights. In her statement, she misgendered Thomas, referring to her as “a man” and framing their 2022 tie as an injustice.
“It’s an honor of a lifetime to know our stories help shed light on a grave problem of rampant gender ideology,” she said. “Women are victims of government-facilitated sex discrimination.”
Divided Reactions
Gaines’ rise as a conservative figure has been accompanied by widespread criticism, particularly from LGBTQ+ rights groups and allies. They argue that her campaign, while claiming to protect women, instead marginalizes and vilifies an already vulnerable group.
“They’ve decided to offer Lia Thomas as a sacrifice to save themselves,” she told CNN. “They’re leveraging her dignity, her legacy, and even her safety to preserve their funding.”
Clymer and others argue that the NCAA, which had long followed guidelines set by the International Olympic Committee for trans athlete participation, is now bowing to political pressure. “Fairness in sports” was never an issue, they say—until trans rights became a target of a broader conservative campaign against diversity and inclusion efforts.
Medical experts have also pushed back on the anti-trans narrative. Many note that gender is distinct from sex assigned at birth and that participating in sports aligned with one’s gender identity can have immense mental health benefits. Transgender individuals already face higher rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidality—conditions exacerbated by societal discrimination and exclusion from spaces like athletics.
From Swimming Pool to Political Podium
Gaines has parlayed her views into a successful media and political career. She is now a conservative commentator, podcast host, and author of Swimming Against the Current: Fighting for Common Sense in Women’s Sports. In February, she starred in an advertisement for the clothing brand XX-XY Athletics, which funds legal campaigns to exclude transgender women from sports.
The ad was later praised by J.K. Rowling, a prominent anti-trans advocate, who shared it on social media with the comment, “I love it.”
At the signing, Trump called Gaines a hero and claimed that her tie with Thomas represented “stolen glory.”
“It was a very unfair situation… it was ridiculous, frankly,” Trump said. “But I want to thank Riley. She really has been in the forefront.”
Legal and Institutional Changes
The Trump administration has made targeting trans athletes a central focus of its education and civil rights agenda. In 2024, Gaines joined a lawsuit against the NCAA, claiming it violated Title IX—the federal law banning sex-based discrimination—by allowing transgender women to compete.
In response to mounting legal pressure and shifting political winds, the NCAA recently announced a policy change that bars transgender women from competing in women’s categories unless they were assigned female at birth.
Lia Thomas’ Silence and Struggles
Last year, a legal panel ruled that she could not compete in the Paris Summer Olympics due to lack of standing, further complicating her athletic future.
Thomas’ supporters argue that the attacks against her are symbolic of a broader rollback of transgender rights in education, health care, and public life. They see her exclusion as part of a dangerous trend where trans people are used as political scapegoats to appease conservative constituencies.
The Bigger Picture
While Gaines claims to be advocating for fairness, critics say her efforts ignore larger issues affecting women in sports—such as lack of funding, gender-based harassment, and unequal facilities. The organization GLAAD warns that laws like the Riley Gaines Act could even be misused against cisgender girls who don’t conform to gender stereotypes.
Despite the backlash, Gaines shows no sign of slowing down. Her influence now reaches beyond the pool, with ongoing political, legal, and cultural implications.
Whether viewed as a defender of women’s sports or as a key figure in a regressive movement, Riley Gaines has become a potent symbol in one of the most heated debates in American life. And it all started with a tied finish in a college swimming pool.