HANNIBAL (HLGU) – Riley Gaines, a 12-time NCAA all American swimmer, advocated for girl’s and women’s sports at Hannibal-LaGrange University (HLGU), Jan. 31, in a speech peppered with humor and greeted with two standing ovations.
Gaines is a leader defending women’s single-sex spaces, advocating for equality and fairness, and standing up for women’s safety, privacy, and equal opportunities.
She graduated from the University of Kentucky, where she was a 12-time All-American swimmer.
Gaines has made waves for speaking out after tying UPenn’s Lia Thomas, a biological male swimmer on the women’s team, at the 2022 NCAA Division 1 Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships.
Gaines told her audience at HLGU that she, her teammates, and her parents were angered and frustrated when Thomas was allowed to openly change in the women’s locker room as women changed. The women used towels, their swimwear and their hands to cover themselves.
In the 2022 NCAA championship, Thomas and Gaines had the exact same time, down to the hundredth of a second, in the 200-meter freestyle. Gaines said ties are rare.
At the time, she protested to an official, and he couldn’t answer. She kept questioning. “His voice and conduct changed, and he said, ‘I’m sorry. We’ve been told to give the trophy to Lia Thomas.’”
Gaines held the trophy long enough for photos, but had to give it back.
“I wondered why no coach, no political power, someone’s dad didn’t come forward,” Gaines said, “and then it hit me. We applauded our own demolition. How can anyone else stand for us if we weren’t going to stand for ourselves?”
She confronted the NCAA, but they said, in essence, that by signing a scholarship agreement she forfeited her rights. The women got little help, except counseling resources, and were told they’d have “blood on their hands” if they spoke out.
As team captain, Gaines polled the 40 members of her team, and 38 agreed with her.
Her coach sided with Riley, and the coach was fired. “Maybe he could be the HLGU swim coach,” she quipped.
Gaines even took her case to the United States Congress. When she did so, one lawmaker tried to pigeon-hole her, calling her trans-phobic. “I said, ‘by your own logic, you are misogynistic,’” Gaines recalled. Another lawmaker asked why she disrespected the LGBTQ community. Gaines replied, “Why are you disrespecting women?”
Providing a spiritual response to the culture, Gaines said, “The apostle Paul warned us spiritual battles will intensify. We’re not saying the trans people are evil, but the deception and the manipulation is.”
“It’s not about the trophy,” she added. “I have a lot of trophies. But it is denying the objective truth and denying the spiritual truth. … God created us perfect, in His image, and we can’t change that.”
Less than two years out of college, Gaines bonded in private sessions with HLGU women athletes, wearing an HLGU Trojans hat. She addressed members of the HLGU community during pre-speech media interviews and a post-speech meet-and-greet.
“I’m mad at myself I didn’t go to school here,” Gaines said. “I haven’t always felt this amount of support on a college campus. This place rocks. I propose Hannibal-LaGrange start a swim team.”
Other schools haven’t been so friendly. At one of them, she was run off stage, hit and spit on. Police present did nothing. Gaines was released on a $10 “ransom.”
“I was mad. I’m worth more than that.”
Gaines has also testified before Congress
“I’m amazed that me, a 23-year-old recent college swimmer and graduate, appeared before Congress to tell them the differences between men and women,” she said. “I want them to uphold Title IX (forbidding sex discrimination).”
After speaking at HLGU, Gaines met with Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey in St. Louis, where she spoke out for a women’s bill of rights.
“When I was thrust into this, I didn’t feel prepared. God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called,” Gaines said. “Be a Daniel. Be a David. Be an Esther. That’s what we need to follow his calling. Don’t wait until you are personally affected. Then it’s too late. Be proactive, not reactive. Parents and grandparents, defend the girls.”
