NC State Swimmer Kylee Alons Says She Changed In A Storage Closet To Avoid Being Exposed To Lia Thomas At NCAA Championships

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Riley Gaines and other female swimmers who participated in the 2022 NCAA Championships have detailed their experiences of having to share a locker room with biological male Lia Thomas. NC State's Kylee Alons avoided being exposed to Thomas after getting creative in the most unfortunate situation.

Alons met with Rep. Greg Steube (R - FL) on Wednesday and reflected on her experience at the '22 Championships and explained that she elected to change in a nearby storage closet instead of sharing a locker room with Thomas.

"Today I met with Kylee, the most decorated swimmer in NC State history," Steube tweeted. "She told me how she changed in a storage closet at the NCAA finals rather than experience the sexual harassment that comes with undressing in front of Will ‘Lia’ Thomas – a biological male who insisted on being in the female locker room."

The people detached from reality will argue that Alons changing in a storage closet was her own choice and that Thomas was simply following NCAA protocol, but that's the issue. Alons shouldn't have had to even imagine changing inside of a storage closet, but with a biological male exposing himself in a women's locker room, changing in a closet was her only option.

Kylee Alons changed in a storage closet to avoid being exposed to Lia Thomas at the NCAA Championships. Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Steube sharing Alons' story on Wednesday came shortly after Gaines gave a passionate testimony at a Senate hearing on 'Protecting Pride: Defending the Civil Rights of LGBTQ+ Americans.'

Gaines passionately stood up for women's rights and women's sports in front of the Senate on Wednesday, and even called out Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin (Illinois) for his opening statement about trans youth and trans athletes.

“Senator Durbin, in your opening statement you had mentioned this rhetoric, you had mentioned ‘what message does it send to trans individuals’ and my combat to that is what message does it send to women, to young girls who are denied these opportunities? So easily their rights to privacy and safety thrown out the window to protect a small population, to protect one group as long as they’re happy," Gaines explained.

“What about us? That is the overall consensus of how we all felt inside that locker room .”

Gaines went into further detail about Alons' experience at the NCAA Championships saying that she and her NC State teammates changed in what was a janitorial closet.

While Gaines has been at the forefront of the fight to save women's sports, she's clearly got a new teammate in Alons.

Follow Mark Harris on Twitter @ItIsMarkHarris

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.