Mother of Lia Thomas opponent reveals emotional toll that drove her to raise funds for women's sports lawsuits

Before Lia Thomas' infamous tie with Riley Gaines at the NCAA championships the women's swimmers of the Ivy League and their families witnessed the impact that the former University of Pennsylvania swimmer had on the sport up close In a regular-season tri-meet against Yale and Dartmouth on Jan Thomas won the freestyle and freestyle CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS COMThat was the first time Kim Jones mother of former Yale women's swimmer Raime Jones saw Thomas swim in person Oh my gosh I can't I mean he was huge It felt like a joke Kim Jones informed Fox News Digital It took everything I had inside not to cry you think someone is going to put a stop to this nonsense and then watch it unfold it felt like the Twilight Zone Jones and her daughter both knew Thomas would be at the meet going into it But then seeing it play out in real-time set off an emotional reaction from the whole family My daughter she was super upset She'd spent days preparing to face a man Jones explained My daughter was feet tall and broad-shouldered very athletic and he just utterly dwarfed her both in the width of his shoulders and in his height No one thought it was real but no one could stop it You just felt like you were watching a runaway train and I remember walking out of the facility and just latest down in tears But for Kim Jones seeing Thomas beat her daughter at that meet was neither the end nor the beginning of the emotional toll the situation took on her and her family The girls had already been pulled into mandatory meetings across the Ivy League and really been bullied and silenced Jones mentioned They had been pulled into meetings and notified Don t speak to media This isn't your fight Let the men in charge of the NCAA decide what to do Your school and your league have already determined their stance you signed up for this ' There was a lot of gaslighting They even revealed it was your job to keep your families quiet Fox News Digital has reached out to Yale UPenn and the Ivy League for comment Jones recalled an alleged futile phone call with a representative from the American Civil Liberties Union ACLU where she tried to plead her situation but was allegedly stated that if she didn t agree with Thomas competing against women she could constantly write a letter Fox News Digital has reached out to the ACLU for comment And I remember hanging up and thinking You have no idea what I could do ' she commented So Jones began a mission to bring about consequences She started by writing anonymous op-eds about the situation while encouraging other Ivy League parents to do the same But she wasn't satisfied I knew an organization needed to exist Jones revealed That opportunity came weeks after Thomas' controversial NCAA championship appearance where the trans athlete won the women's freestyle and tied with Gaines in the freestyle Then Gaines herself helped connect Jones with another person with the same idea former University of Arizona women's swimmer Marshi Smith Smith had been watching the debate with Thomas play out from afar But it still hit close to home as a former women's swimmer herself FORMER UPENN SWIMMER REFLECTS ON BEING TEAMMATES WITH LIA THOMAS AMID TRUMP ADMIN ACHIEVEMENT OVER UNIVERSITYSmith a former six-time All-American was the NCAA champion in the backstroke But Smith recalling the pressure and stress of preparing for that championship meet believes it paled in comparison to the experience of preparing to face a male I cannot imagine having to walk on deck knowing every media camera in the world is outside shooting the entire meet because they know that you are set up to race a man Smith informed Fox News Digital We train with men all season we have the same coach I'm very well aware of the differences between male and female swimmers so knowing that and going on deck would have been so defeating at the time Smith's experience of competing against men casually and in practice pushed her to aggressively question the fairness of Thomas being allowed to compete competitively in college Never once in my mind would I ever seriously consider or judge myself in comparison to any of my male teammates Smith noted The first time I ever pictured that scenario was with Lia Thomas in the NCAA So together Jones and Smith connected with the shared goal of activism Smith had already rented booth space at that year's NCAA annual conference which took place in Smith's hometown of Las Vegas Her initial plan was just to hand out flyers and hope for a conversation with particular visiting athletic directors Kim stated We're going to do a lot more than that ' Smith mentioned The two former women's athletes put on a three-day conference titled the The Birth of ICONS It was the inaugural event for the Independent Council on Women's Sports and included panel interviews with women's athletes legal experts health experts and women's tennis legend Martina Navratilova I don't know how we pulled that off Jones explained I think everything just fell into place The group went on to finance the legal costs for the Gaines vs NCAA lawsuit which it communicated in March The suit headed by Gaines includes a plaintiff list of other women's NCAA athletes who were impacted by the participation of Thomas and has since expanded to include other plaintiffs impacted by males in women's sports ICONS is also financing individual lawsuits against UPenn by three of Thomas' former teammates and a suit against the Mountain West and San Jose State University over grievances involving trans volleyball sportsman Blaire Fleming Follow Fox News Digital s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter