Kaitlynn Wheeler has been through a lot. As a swimmer for the University of Kentucky women’s swim team, her freshman year saw competition cut short due to COVID. But athletes are resilient and goal-oriented, and she persevered through her sophomore year despite mask mandates, social distancing, and contact tracing. But her third year presented a challenge that nothing could have prepared her for.

In their own words:

“Georgia Tech not only failed to intervene, but (knowingly) and intentionally increased our humiliation and pain. In an even more shocking and damaging betrayal, Georgia Tech University and the NCAA allowed Lia Thomas to use the locker room without warning and forced us to undress in front of a man and with our male genitalia fully intact. The first time I learned that a man was allowed to use the women’s locker room was the day before the competition began, when I saw it with my own eyes. I was in the locker room changing into my tracksuit for a stinger, a pre-competition race, into my race suit. Suddenly, the usual hubbub of conversation in the locker room noticeably changed to one of discomfort, embarrassment, and fear. I turned around, exposed and naked, still removing my race suit, only to see a very tall, 6’4″ man just ten feet away from me. I recognized it was Lia Thomas. I was completely shocked and taken aback. I immediately grabbed my towel. He put his clothes down next to me, pulled down his pants and started changing in front of me. I was stuck in the most uncomfortable position of my life, with only half of my racing suit on in the presence of a naked man. This was anything but a normal experience. It felt extremely wrong. I looked around at the other girls and saw that they too were covering themselves up and trying to squeeze to the other side of the changing room and be as far away from Thomas as they could in this small space.”

Wheeler’s testimony came during a hearing of the Senate Select Committee to Protect Women’s Sports, chaired by Senator Greg Dolezal. She was joined by other swimmers, including Kylee Alons of North Carolina State, Reka Gyorgy of Virginia Tech and Riley Gaines of Kentucky.

It was clear from their statements that they had come to vent their displeasure with Georgia Tech and especially with President Angel Cabrera.

Riley Gaines, who has become the face of the women’s sports movement in the United States, did not mince her words. When it was her turn to testify before the committee, she mentioned that she had written a letter to Mr. Cabrera that she wanted to deliver in person, “but he didn’t have the guts to show up,” she said, reading the letter as part of her testimony.

“Why didn’t you protect me? There are images in my head that I can’t erase. I wish I could erase these images that make me feel less safe as a woman every day.”

There is no objective way to defend yourself against the situations these women have found themselves in. I feel the outrage they are trying to convey to me when they tell their stories. If one of them was my daughter, I have to ask myself how I would react. If today’s statements were true, I believe deep down that someone needs to be held accountable and deserves it for what these women went through. So who?

That said, I also have to ask: Is Georgia Tech really at fault here? I think that’s a fair question, and one that a judge and jury will likely have to address soon, thanks to a lawsuit filed by Gaines and more than a dozen college athletes against the NCAA and the University System of Georgia (USG), of which Georgia Tech is a part.

Here at Peach Pundit, we often speculate wildly, and that’s exactly what I’ll be doing here in the role of devil’s advocate as we look at the reasons why Angel Cabrera wasn’t there today. I’m not a lawyer, but I’ve seen enough of them to know that as a defendant in a legal proceeding, you don’t make public comments until you’re in court. With a pending lawsuit against GT, testifying before a Senate committee would be a fool’s move. It’s obvious that Mr. Cabrera would be wise not to get into the details of a situation that is the subject of a pending lawsuit.

Another question that comes to mind is how much control did Georgia Tech have over the event? Yes, it was their venue, but I know from previous information that it was not Georgia Tech staff working there, but NCAA staff. If it wasn’t a meeting organized by GT, how could they have intervened when their governing body was in charge?

Gaines, Wheeler, Alons and Gyorgy have every right to feel abused for what they went through. And who is to blame will ultimately be decided in the courtroom when the testimony is given under oath, which is the appropriate place for it. I just hope the right people are held accountable.