Riley Gaines, a previous Kentucky swimmer, was one of the more than a few college athletes who filed a complaint against the NCAA on Thursday, alleging that it violated their Title IX rights by allowing transgender girl Lia Thomas to compete at the national finals in 2022.
The lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, details how shocked Morris and other athletes learned they would have to share a locker room with Thomas at the finals in Atlanta. It documents a number of races they swam in with Thomas, including the 200-yard last in which Thomas and Gaines tied for second but Thomas, not Gaines, was handed the five-spot trophy.
Thomas swam for Pennsylvania. She competed for the men’s team at Penn before her gender transition.
Another claimant, Tylor Mathieu of Florida, placed seventh in the initial heat of the 500-meter freestyle, which eliminated her from the final that Thomas would eventually win. Thomas won the Division I title in front of three Paralympic finalists for the tournament as the first openly transgender athlete to do so. Mathieu was denied first-team All-American honors in that competition because she did not make it to the final.
Athletes from tennis and track were among the various plaintiffs.
According to the lawsuit, the defendants “bring this case to secure for upcoming generations of women the promise of Title IX that the NCAA has denied them and other college athletes.”
The NCAA and its members continue to promote Title IX, make extraordinary investments in women’s sports, and ensure fair competition in all NCAA championships, the NCAA said in a statement. “College sports are the top stage for women’s sports in America,” the NCAA said in a statement.
Although extensive research is also frequently lacking on wealthy athletics and practically nonexistent when determining whether a transgender woman has a distinct advantage over her cisgender opponents or teammates, critics claim that transgender athletes have an advantage over cisgender women in competition.
In an effort to align with national sports governing bodies, the NCAA revised its policies on transgender athlete participation in 2022 in line with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s lead.
The NCAA’s rules are updated with national and international sports governing body standards in the third phase of the revised policy, which is scheduled to go into effect for the 2024-25 school year.
The lawsuit also lists the University of Georgia system as a defendant because one of its schools, Georgia Tech, hosted the 2022 championships. The lawsuit argues that the NCAA’s transgender eligibility guidelines “which adversely affect female athletes in violation of Title IX” should be used at upcoming events being held in Georgia.
Representatives from the Georgia schools said they would not comment on the lawsuit because they had not been served with it.
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