Former college athlete praises major sports body for banning trans women from competing with women: 'Huge'

Kaitlynn Wheeler, former University of Kentucky swimmer, weighs in after the NAIA's transgender athlete ban.

In an interview with Fox News Channel, former University of Kentucky NCAA swimmer Kaitlynn Wheeler praised the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) for banning trans women from competing against women in sporting events it sponsors.

"It’s huge," Wheeler told "Fox & Friends First" on Tuesday morning, noting that "all eyes are on the NCAA right now."

"The NAIA took the bold first move here, and that's what real leadership looks like," the former college swimmer declared.

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Former University of Kentucky swimmer Kaitlynn Wheeler praised the NAIA for banning trans women from female competitions in a new interview with Fox News Channel.  (Screenshot/FNC)

Wheeler is one of 16 current and former college athletes – including former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines – suing the NCAA, University System of Georgia, and several Georgia colleges for allegedly committing Title IX violations and violating the rights to bodily privacy by allowing trans women to compete against women.

NAIA’s new policy makes it so that only athletes who are biological females and have not begun hormone therapy may compete against women in its events. The body governs collegiate sports in smaller schools across the nation. 

Wheeler spoke about the pressure this decision puts on the NCAA and other sports bodies to disallow biological men from entering into women’s competitions.

"They did their research. They made the right call. Unlike the NCAA who has previously admitted that they haven't done enough research on the subject,