As a recently retired All-American swimmer, my transition from athlete to champion for fairness was driven by an unfair competition that changed the course of my life forever. During the 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, my teammates, fellow competitors, and I encountered a fundamentally unfair situation that no student-athlete, let alone a teenage girl, should ever have to face.
The NCAA did not simply make my teammates in the 100-, 200-, and 500-yard freestyle races face a biological male swimmer in the pool. The NCAA also decided that Lia Thomas, a 6-foot-4-inch, 22-year-old transgender swimmer with a male body and full male genitalia, would be undressing with us.
The moment I realized Thomas would be sharing our most private space, I was engulfed by a whirlwind of emotions — shock, disbelief, horror. The sanctity of our locker room, a space that should have been ours and ours alone, was shattered without warning. The presence of male genitalia in a space that was supposed to be safe, where we were vulnerable and exposed, was not just uncomfortable; it was a visceral invasion of our privacy and dignity. This was not about inclusivity — this was a fundamental disregard for our feelings and our safety.
Later we learned that the NCAA had supposedly converted the women’s locker room to a “unisex” locker room just for the championships — without our consent. In other words, the NCAA chose to provide no safe space in which women could change their clothes and shower when competing in its Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships.
Feeling my stomach churn as whispers turned to silence, I stood there, naked and exposed, not just physically but also emotionally, grappling with a reality I couldn’t comprehend. The NCAA’s decision to transform our sanctuary into a “unisex” locker room without our consent felt like a betrayal of the highest order. It was a stark reminder that our voices, our comfort, and our boundaries did not matter.
I watched the 500-yard freestyle race that Thomas won. It began in silence with eight swimmers poised on their blocks awaiting the starter’s gun. Watching Thomas stand atop the podium afterward, the crowd’s silence was a mirror to the turmoil raging within us. That silence spoke volumes of the injustice, pain, and anger brewing in the hearts of not just the competitors but of every woman forced into silence by a system that refuses to listen.
Many women have since sought to communicate with NCAA leadership about the state of women’s sports. However, our letters and pleas to President Charlie Baker have gone unanswered. The NCAA’s response has been silence.
That’s why myself and more than a dozen other former or current NCAA athletes are suing the organization for violating our Title IX rights. Our legal challenge against the NCAA represents more than a personal grievance. For the well-being of our fellow women and the next generation, we have resolved to safeguard the sanctity and fairness of women’s sports.
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This lawsuit is a stand against the erasure of our voices, a declaration that we will not be silenced, that we will not let the next generation of athletes suffer in the shadows. We demand a future where female athletes are respected, where our safety and privacy are not just acknowledged but fiercely protected.
By fighting to hold the NCAA accountable, we are also fighting for a future in which female athletes can compete with confidence, knowing their efforts are valued on a fair and equal basis. To the NCAA, we say on behalf of our sisters: we will no longer accept silence.
Kaitlynn Wheeler is a former All-American swimmer and SEC champion.