Swimmers in lawsuit against NCAA speak at Georgia Senate committee on transgender women in sports

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Former NCAA Swimmer Riley Gaines testified before a Georgia Senate Committee on Tuesday.

Credit: Screenshot of Georgia Senate livestream

The Georgia Senate study committee for Protecting Women's Sports held its inaugural meeting Tuesday, where five former female collegiate swimmers testified about their experience sharing a locker room and competing against a transgender woman during a 2022 NCAA championship meet held the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. 

None of the swimmers who testified at the Georgia Capitol were from the state or attended colleges here.

The transgender swimmer, who was not in attendance Tuesday,  swam for University of Pennsylvania.

The women who spoke are suing the NCAA and Georgia Tech over the inclusion of a transgender woman in the competition.  

Senator Greg Dolezal chairs the committee. He said the athletes testimony could inform future legislation on the topic.

“What I try to do is define what the right answer is from a public policy perspective, and pursue that right answer. Before we have 50 examples of something going haywire,” he said. 

Dolezal said the committee will meet monthly until December.

While the state legislature, cannot influence decisions made by the NCAA, a national organization, they have more power over Georgia high school rules. The legislature passed a bill allowing the Georgia High School Sports Association to set their own rules about transgender women's participation in sports in 2022. Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones said that the law does not go far enough, and more action is needed.