Mother Of Lia Thomas Opponent Reveals Emotional Toll That Drove Her To Raise Funds For Women's Sports Lawsuits

Before Lia Thomas' infamous necktie pinch Riley Gaines astatine nan 2022 NCAA championships, nan women's swimmers of nan Ivy League and their families witnessed nan effect that nan erstwhile University of Pennsylvania swimmer had connected nan athletics – up close.

In a regular-season tri-meet against Yale and Dartmouth connected Jan. 8, 2022, Thomas won nan 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle. 

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Lia Thomas of nan University of Pennsylvania competes successful a freestyle arena against Yale and Dartmouth astatine Sheerr Pool connected Penn's field connected Jan. 8, 2022, successful Philadelphia. (Hunter Martin/Getty Images)

That was nan first clip Kim Jones, mother of erstwhile Yale women's swimmer Raime Jones, saw Thomas aquatics successful person. 

"Oh my gosh, I can't, I mean, he was huge. It felt for illustration a joke," Kim Jones told Fox News Digital. "It took everything I had inside, not to cry… you deliberation personification is going to put a extremity to this nonsense, and past watch it unfold, it felt for illustration nan Twilight Zone."

Jones and her girl some knew Thomas would beryllium astatine nan meet going into it. But then, seeing it play retired successful real-time group disconnected an affectional guidance from nan full family. 

"My daughter, she was ace upset. She'd spent days preparing to look a man," Jones said. "My girl was 6 feet gangly and broad-shouldered, very athletic, and he conscionable utterly dwarfed her, some successful nan width of his shoulders and successful his height."

"No 1 thought it was real, but nary 1 could extremity it. You conscionable felt for illustration you were watching a runaway train and I retrieve stepping retired of nan installation and conscionable breaking down successful tears." 

But for Kim Jones, seeing Thomas hit her girl astatine that meet was neither nan extremity nor nan beginning, of nan affectional toll nan business took connected her and her family. 

"The girls had already been pulled into mandatory meetings crossed nan Ivy League, and really been bullied and silenced," Jones said. "They had been pulled into meetings and told, ‘Don’t speak to media. This isn't your fight. Let nan men successful complaint of nan NCAA determine what to do. Your schoolhouse and your convention person already wished their stance, you signed up for this.' There was a batch of gaslighting. 

"They moreover said ‘it was your occupation to support your families quiet.’" 

Fox News Digital has reached retired to Yale, UPenn and nan Ivy League for comment. 

Jones recalled an alleged futile telephone telephone pinch a typical from nan American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), wherever she tried to plead her case, but was allegedly told that if she "didn’t work together with" Thomas competing against women, she could "always constitute a letter." Fox News Digital has reached retired to nan ACLU for comment. 

"And I retrieve hanging up and thinking, ‘You person nary thought what I could do,'" she said. 

So Jones began a ngo to bring astir consequences.

She started by penning anonymous op-eds astir nan situation, while encouraging different Ivy League parents to do nan same. But she wasn't satisfied. 

"I knew an statement needed to exist," Jones said. 

That opportunity came weeks aft Thomas' controversial NCAA championship appearance, wherever nan trans jock won nan women's 500 freestyle and tied pinch Gaines successful nan 200 freestyle. 

Then Gaines herself helped link Jones pinch different personification pinch nan aforesaid idea, erstwhile University of Arizona women's swimmer Marshi Smith. Smith had been watching nan contention pinch Thomas play retired from afar. But it still deed adjacent to location arsenic a erstwhile women's swimmer herself. 

FORMER UPENN SWIMMER REFLECTS ON BEING TEAMMATES WITH LIA THOMAS AMID TRUMP ADMIN VICTORY OVER UNIVERSITY

Smith, a erstwhile six-time All-American, was nan 2005 NCAA champion successful nan 100 backstroke. But Smith, recalling nan unit and accent of preparing for that 2005 title meet, believes it paled successful comparison to nan acquisition of preparing to look a male. 

"I cannot ideate having to locomotion connected deck, knowing each media camera successful nan world is outside, shooting nan full meet because they cognize that you are group up to title a man," Smith told Fox News Digital. "We train pinch men each season, we person nan aforesaid coach, I'm very good alert of nan differences betwixt antheral and female swimmers, truthful knowing that and going connected platform would person been truthful defeating astatine nan time." 

Smith's acquisition of competing against men casually and successful believe pushed her to aggressively mobility nan fairness of Thomas being allowed to compete competitively successful college. 

"Never erstwhile successful my mind would I ever earnestly see aliases judge myself successful comparison to immoderate of my antheral teammates," Smith said. "The first clip I ever pictured that script was pinch Lia Thomas successful nan NCAA."  

So together, Jones and Smith connected pinch nan shared extremity of activism. Smith had already rented booth abstraction astatine that year's NCAA yearly conference, which took spot successful Smith's hometown of Las Vegas. Her first scheme was conscionable to manus retired flyers and dream for a speech pinch immoderate visiting diversion directors.

"[Kim] said, ‘We're going to do a batch much than that,'" Smith said. 

The 2 erstwhile women's athletes put connected a three-day convention titled nan "The Birth of ICONS." 

It was nan inaugural arena for nan Independent Council connected Women's Sports, and included panel interviews pinch women's athletes, ineligible experts, aesculapian experts and women's tennis fable Martina Navratilova.

"I don't cognize really we pulled that off," Jones said. "I deliberation everything conscionable fell into place."  

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The group went connected to finance nan ineligible costs for nan Gaines vs. NCAA lawsuit, which it announced successful March 2024. The suit, headed by Gaines, includes a plaintiff database of different women's NCAA athletes who were impacted by nan information of Thomas, and has since expanded to see different plaintiffs impacted by males successful women's sports.

ICONS is besides financing individual lawsuits against UPenn by 3 of Thomas' erstwhile teammates, and a suit against nan Mountain West and San Jose State University complete grievances involving trans volleyball subordinate Blaire Fleming.

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