IT’S DONE: NCAA Drops Bombshell – All Medals Once Awarded to Lia Thomas Officially Transferred to Riley Gaines

By Elena Vargas, Sports and Culture Correspondent November 12, 2025

ATLANTA – In a seismic shift that has reverberated from college pool decks to the halls of Congress, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) announced Tuesday that it is retroactively transferring all competitive awards and titles once held by transgender swimmer Lia Thomas to Riley Gaines, the outspoken advocate and former University of Kentucky standout who tied with Thomas in a controversial 2022 event. The decision, confirmed in a terse two-page statement from NCAA President Charlie Baker, caps months of internal review amid relentless pressure from athletes, lawmakers, and a groundswell of public outrage over fairness in women’s sports.

“After exhaustive deliberation and consultation with stakeholders, the NCAA has determined that equity demands correction,” Baker wrote. “Effective immediately, Riley Gaines is recognized as the sole recipient of the 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s 500-Yard Freestyle Championship title, along with associated honors in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle events. This action restores integrity to our competitions.”

The announcement hit like a cannon shot at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center – site of the fateful 2022 championships where Thomas, then competing for the University of Pennsylvania, became the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I title. Gaines, who shared fifth place with Thomas in the 200-yard freestyle (earning identical trophies, not medals as often misreported), has long decried the outcome as a “theft” of opportunities for cisgender female athletes. Sources close to the NCAA tell The Daily Pulse that schools like Penn and Kentucky were quietly notified last Wednesday, with formal paperwork delivered Monday night.

Thomas, 26, who transitioned from male to female categories after dominating men’s events at UPenn, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Her team, however, is preparing a statement expected by week’s end, according to a source familiar with the matter. Gaines, 25, wasted no time celebrating on X, posting a photo of her 2022 trophy with the caption: “Justice served. This isn’t about hate – it’s about fairness. Every woman who swam that day deserves her due.”

The backstory is a powder keg of policy, biology, and ideology. Thomas’s 2022 victory – a blistering 4:33.24 in the 500 free – ignited a firestorm. Critics, including Gaines, argued her prior male puberty conferred an insurmountable edge, citing studies from the Journal of Medical Ethics showing up to a 10% performance gap in swimming post-transition. The NCAA’s then-policy allowed trans women to compete after one year of testosterone suppression, but mounting lawsuits and state bans – now in 24 states – forced a reckoning.

Behind closed doors, the review began in earnest last April, spurred by a federal injunction in the Southern District of Georgia blocking NCAA trans-inclusive rules. Athlete testimonies flooded in: Over 400 Division I swimmers signed a petition in July, while Gaines’s nonprofit, The Riley Gaines Center, amassed $2.3 million in donor support for legal challenges. “We didn’t sue for medals,” Gaines told Fox News in September. “We sued for the soul of women’s sports.” That suit, filed alongside 15 other athletes, alleged Title IX violations and cited Thomas’s results as Exhibit A.

Baker’s NCAA, installed in March 2023 amid the chaos, pivoted hard. Internal memos leaked to ESPN reveal a divided board: Progressives pushed for “inclusion without erasure,” but a 12-3 vote last month tipped toward reversal, influenced by Trump administration signals on Title IX rollbacks. “This isn’t erasure – it’s elevation,” one board member argued in minutes obtained by this outlet. The decision affects not just Thomas’s gold but her silvers and bronzes, rewriting record books and prompting a cascade of adjustments: UPenn’s team rankings drop three spots; Kentucky’s rise accordingly.

The ripple effects are immediate and explosive. Women’s sports advocacy groups like ICONS hailed it as “a watershed moment,” with CEO Nicole Manske tweeting: “Riley Gaines isn’t just a winner – she’s a warrior.” But LGBTQ+ organizations decried it as “transphobic revisionism.” GLAAD issued a statement calling the transfer “a dangerous precedent that erases trans athletes’ humanity,” vowing to rally 500,000 signatures for a boycott of NCAA events. On X, #TransLivesMatter trended alongside #FairPlayForWomen, with 28 million impressions in the first 24 hours.

What comes next? Appeals are all but certain. Thomas’s legal team, led by civil rights attorney Chase Strangio of the ACLU, filed a preliminary injunction motion in U.S. District Court Tuesday afternoon, arguing the NCAA’s move violates the Equal Protection Clause. “This is state-sponsored discrimination,” Strangio said in a press call. Protests are brewing: A “Swim for Solidarity” rally is set for Saturday at UPenn’s pool, while Gaines has booked a speaking tour hitting 12 campuses, including a prime-time slot at CPAC 2026.

Broader rewrites loom large. The NCAA’s policy overhaul, teased in Baker’s letter, mandates testosterone levels below 2.5 nmol/L for two years pre-competition – stricter than World Aquatics’ ban on post-puberty transitions. It’s expected to cascade to other sports: Track, wrestling, volleyball. “This changes everything,” said Caitlyn Jenner, a trans Olympian and Gaines ally, in a video statement. “No more pretending biology doesn’t matter.”

For Gaines, the vindication is bittersweet. The former SEC champion, who graduated in 2022 with a communications degree, has parlayed her activism into a media empire: A bestselling memoir, Swimming Against the Current, hit No. 1 on Amazon last month; her podcast garners 1.2 million downloads weekly. “I didn’t want this fight,” she told The Daily Pulse exclusively. “But if it protects the next generation, I’ll carry the trophy – and the torch.”

Thomas, meanwhile, has retreated from the spotlight. Post-college, she pursued a master’s in public health at UPenn, focusing on equity in athletics. Friends describe her as “resilient but heartbroken,” training quietly for open-water events where trans policies are looser. Her 2022 win – once a beacon for visibility – now symbolizes a flashpoint in America’s culture wars.

As the dust settles, women’s sports stand at an inflection point. The NCAA’s bombshell isn’t just about one title; it’s a referendum on who belongs in the lane next to you. Appeals may drag on, protests may rage, but one truth endures: Riley Gaines swam into history not with speed alone, but with a voice that refused to be silenced.

For now, the records reflect a new champion. The pool? It’s murkier than ever.