Riley Gaines denies exploiting Lia Thomas connection for media success.

Former NCAA Champion Swimmer Riley Gaines Responds to Hit Piece

Former NCAA champion swimmer Riley Gaines has fired back at a hit piece accusing her of leveraging her 5th-place tie with trans-identifying swimmer Lia Thomas to launch a career in right-wing media.

The article, written by Alyssa Tirrell at left-wing outlet Media Matters for America, claimed that Gaines had traded her fifth-place finish in the 200-meter freestyle at the 2022 NCAA championships for a platform in conservative media.

MMfA’s Ari Drennan shared the article on Twitter, stating, “Riley Gaines has turned a fifth-place tie with Lia Thomas into a lucrative career in the right-wing media.” The headline echoed the same sentiment: “Over a year after her last race against Lia Thomas, Riley Gaines has built a media career on the trans swimmer’s name.”

Riley Gaines has turned a fifth-place tie with Lia Thomas into a lucrative career in the right-wing mediahttps://t.co/5oSAXmHGua

— Ari Drennen (@AriDrennen) June 21, 2023

In the subsequent article, however, Tirrell seemed to suggest that 29 appearances and two hours and 38 minutes of airtime constituted a “media career.”

The piece went on to criticize Gaines for discussing broader issues instead of solely focusing on her race against Thomas. These issues included the athletic advantages biological males have over females in sports and the potential trauma that could arise from allowing men into locker rooms with biological females, especially young girls.

But Gaines, in an interview with The Daily Wire, made it clear that she has no intention of pursuing a media career. Nevertheless, critics like MMfA will have to get used to seeing her around.

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“I finished fifth in the entire country. Is the fifth best NBA player considered elite? Of course. The critics making these claims have never been elite athletes or placed fifth in the country in any endeavor, so I don’t expect them to understand what that actually means,” Gaines stated. “But that doesn’t matter. It wouldn’t matter if I won an Olympic gold medal or if I were the slowest swimmer in the country. Your level of competitiveness doesn’t determine your entitlement to equal opportunity, safety, and privacy. Every young girl and woman deserves these rights, regardless of their athletic abilities.”

“I’m not fighting this for personal reasons. This is never a battle I wanted or felt prepared for,” Gaines continued. “And I’m done competing. I’m not doing this for myself. I’m fighting for the past female athletes who fought tirelessly for Title IX, which allowed me to benefit as I did. I’m fighting for the current female athletes whose voices are effectively silenced by their universities and the media. I’m fighting for the next generation of female athletes who don’t yet have a voice and don’t yet understand the implications of what this means for their opportunities.”

Gaines also mentioned that she would gladly return to her original plan for her life, which was to attend dental school and become an endodontist.

“I don’t see that happening anytime soon. So I’m sorry, but my critics will have to get used to seeing my face and hearing my voice,” she declared. “This is a battle I won’t give up on because I see what’s at stake if we do. Make no mistake, this is bigger than just fairness in women’s sports. They want to control how you feel, what you think, and what you say. Not on my watch.”

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