[Crimson Dynamo]

When UK swimmer Riley Gaines tied for fifth with UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas in the 200-yard freestyle at NCAAs, it made national headlines. Thomas, a transgender Man who previously swam for two years on UPenn’s mens team, quickly became a controversial figure within and beyond the swimming world.

So when Thomas was given the single fifth place trophy to hold during the podium presentation instead of Gaines, she took the opportunity to speak out against the NCAA.

Gaines recounted her experience with the meet officials, who instructed her to hold the sixth place trophy instead because they wanted to give it to Thomas, to the Daily Wire. The officials told her that her trophy would come later in the mail.

“I left the pool with no trophy,” Gaines told the outlet. “It was the goal that I had set all year.”


Man in womens race steals trophy from a woman