The experience that flipped Riley Gaines’ life ‘upside down’: ‘I still don’t know what my future looks like’

Riley Gaines' life was "flipped upside down" after she tied Lia Thomas in last year's NCAA finals. She thought she'd be in dental school but is a major voice trans athlete debate.

NASHVILLE – Riley Gaines thought she'd be entering her second year of dental school at this point in her life, not testifying in front of a Senate committee. But her life was "flipped upside down" after she tied transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in last year's NCAA finals.

"This experience, and really taking a public stance in common sense quite frankly, has drastically changed my life," Gaines told Fox News. 

"I still don't know what my future looks like," she added. "This is something I constantly pray about. I just ask God to put me where I am needed. But my life, it's been totally flipped upside down."

Since tying for fifth with Thomas in the 200-meter swimming championship last year, Gaines has become a central figure in the heated political battle over whether transgender athletes should be allowed to compete against biological females. Last month, Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer, testified before a Senate panel. She argued that women's spaces should be reserved for biological females, which she said would ensure fairness. 

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"It really hit me that if we as female athletes aren't willing to stick up for ourselves, how can we expect someone else to stick up for us?" she said.

Debates over transgender athletes' inclusion in female sports at all ages and levels have intensified across the country. Advocates for inclusivity argue it's discriminatory to exclude trans athletes, while those fighting to keep women's sports reserved for biological females say it's dangerous and unfair to