Riley Gaines, Bethany Hamilton team up to defend women's sports at children's story hour

Former University of Kentucky swimmer and activist Riley Gaines discusses NCAA transgender athlete policies and a recent 'Save Women's Sports' protest outside the NCAA convention.

FIRST ON FOX: Two formidable female athletes are joining forces to share tales with children of the fight to defend opportunities for women in sports.

Former University of Kentucky swimming star Riley Gaines, an Outkick contributor, as well as professional surfer Bethany Hamilton are hosting a children’s story hour featuring their inspirational new titles from Brave Books at The Library Center in Springfield, Missouri, on Feb. 2.

"Together our message is stronger," Gaines, host of Outkick’s "Gaines for Girls" podcast, told Fox News Digital. 

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"We’re drawing a clean line in the sand to show people where we stand," she said.

The two watersports stars became high-profile champions of women’s sports after speaking up against the sudden incursion of biological men into female competitions. 

Sports stars Riley Gaines (left) and Bethany Hamilton have become leaders in the fight to protect women's sports from the incursion of male competitors. (Courtesy Brave Books)

But they’ve faced a tidal wave of hate and intolerance, plus career hardships, in response to their efforts to preserve opportunities for women in sports that were denied to those of past generations.

"People have wished death upon my life," Hamilton told Fox News Digital in a phone interview from the remote Hawaiian island of Kauai. 

"People have wished death upon my life. It makes you sad that society can be so gnarly." — Bethany Hamilton

"It makes you sad that society can be so gnarly," she