Riley Gaines tied a six foot four male swimmer while the NCAA celebrated Title IX that same year.
That same NCAA just told a federal judge it was never bound by that law at all.
Buried in his ruling is the one loophole that let the NCAA skate free again.
NCAA Handed Out Title IX Shirts the Same Year a Man Swam Against Women
Rewind to 2022.
The NCAA was mid celebration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX.
Shirts went out reading "50 years of Title IX creating opportunities for women."
That same week, Riley Gaines tied former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas for fifth place in the 200 yard freestyle.
Thomas, a biological male, had already won the 500 yard freestyle national championship.
He used the women's locker room the entire meet.
ICONS co-founder Marshi Smith put it plainly.
"The number of Title IX parties that the NCAA and each individual university threw for themselves, celebrating themselves for the success and triumph of Title IX," Smith said.
"Fast-forwarding to now, their complete denial of having any responsibility to Title IX – it's mind-blowing."
Biden Appointed Judge Rules the NCAA Was Never Covered by the Law at All
U.S. District Judge Tiffany R. Johnson did not rule on whether letting men compete against women counts as sex discrimination.
She did not need to.
Johnson ruled the NCAA never had to answer that question because the organization does not receive federal funds, the one requirement that triggers Title IX liability in the first place.
"There is no evidence that the NCAA ever received, or could have received, federal funds," Johnson wrote.
The judge leaned on a 1999 Supreme Court precedent, NCAA v. Smith, which held that collecting dues from federally funded member schools does not make the NCAA itself a federal funding recipient.
Gaines' team had tried a new angle this time, pointing to the NCAA's partnership with the Department of Defense on concussion research.
Johnson found the connection too thin.
Gaines Calls the NCAA's Response Total Hogwash
After the ruling, the NCAA reached for its talking points.
"The NCAA is proud to continually invest in and expand women's sports and the NCAA is in full compliance with the Trump administration's executive order on women's sports," the organization said.
Gaines wasn't buying it.
"It's just a way to kind of wink at everyone, act as if they're doing the right thing, the upstanding thing," she said.
Gaines called the statement "total hogwash."
ICONS co-founder Kim Jones went further, laying out exactly how the NCAA structures itself to avoid blame.
"The NCAA is the controlling authority for collegiate athletics. They set nationwide policy. And the NCAA is composed of the schools," Jones said.
"Their board of directors is presidents of universities."
The Fight Moves to the 11th Circuit With the Supreme Court in Sight
Gaines has 30 days from Monday's judgment to file her appeal with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
"This momentary setback will not deter me or other women athletes in the least," Gaines said.
"Rest assured, we will be appealing this decision."
Her real target has never changed.
"Ultimately, this is something that I think myself and the dozens of other plaintiffs involved in the lawsuit would like to see before the Supreme Court," Gaines said.
Congress Is About to Hand the NCAA More Power Right After It Dodged Accountability
The timing could not be more loaded.
The Senate just passed the Protect College Sports Act 77-22, a bill that would hand the NCAA new federal authority and a limited antitrust shield.
Jones didn't hide her objection.
"The NCAA cannot be trusted to receive broad new powers that it will only use to inflict further harm upon women," she said.
Congress is about to reward an organization for successfully arguing in federal court that the law protecting female athletes doesn't apply to it.
Trump already forced the NCAA's hand once.
The organization only rewrote its eligibility rules after Trump signed his "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order, and it still lets men practice alongside women's teams under the policy it has now.
Trump moved on women's sports the moment he had the authority to act, the NCAA moved only once he made them, and now a Biden appointed judge just gave the same organization a legal shield to keep doing the bare minimum.
The NCAA Wants Title IX Credit Without Title IX Liability
This isn't a case about federal funding formulas, whatever the judge's opinion says.
It's proof that the NCAA built itself to dodge every law it finds inconvenient while still cashing in on the ones it likes.
The organization wants credit for Title IX at every awards banquet and zero liability for it in federal court, and for one week in September, a judge let it have both.
Every time the NCAA faces real accountability, it discovers a new jurisdictional loophole, then turns around and asks Washington for more power anyway.
Gaines sees the midterms as the venue where that pattern finally gets broken, not just the courtroom.
"That enough should be a motivating factor to get out to the ballot box in November," she said.
Sources:
- Jackson Thompson, "Riley Gaines speaks out on dismissal of her lawsuit vs NCAA, hopes to take case to SCOTUS," Fox News, September 30, 2026.
- "NCAA responds after Riley Gaines' lawsuit is dismissed, affirms compliance with Trump's executive order," Fox News, September 29, 2026.
- Breitbart Sports Staff, "Riley Gaines To Appeal Transgender Athlete Lawsuit Against NCAA to Supreme Court," Breitbart, September 29, 2026.
- Elaine Briseño, "NCAA Wins Title IX Trans Suit, As Judge Finds No Fed. Aid," Law360, September 30, 2026.
- National Collegiate Athletic Assn. v. Smith, 525 U.S. 459 (1999), Supreme Court of the United States.
- U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, "Senate Votes 74-24 To Advance Cantwell's Bipartisan Protect College Sports Act," September 2026.
