181: Ariana Kukors Smith: A Conversation Around Transgender Athletes

On this edition of Road Trippin', the crew welcomes Ariana Kukors Smith to the show. A former world record holder in the 200-meter individual medley, Ariana is one of the most accomplished female swimmers in the world. She tells you what it's like for her to root for transgender swimmers (including now NCAA Champion Lia Thomas) while at the same time feeling a deep empathy for those women who are now losing to trans athletes. We have the tough conversation about what can/should be done at a legislative level, if the NCAA will choose to be proactive in setting boundaries, the mental health aspect of women losing to transgender athletes...and also why we need to support trans athletes in following their dreams. Have a question or topic for our next show? Text or leave us a VM at 657-522-5578 (6575-CALLRT) Cheers! 👩‍💻 Go to https://athleticgreens.com/en ➡ Promo Code: ROADTRIPPIN ⏰ Chapters ⏰ (00:00) "I Don't Think That We Have Enough Information Yet, To Allow Her To Compete Against Biological Females." (00:30) INTRO (01:13) Welcome Ariana Kukors Smith (02:59) Testing Channing's Swimming Knowledge (06:05) Discovering Yourself After Retirement (12:38) Harder: Winning A Gold Medal...Or Being A Mom? (13:45) Digesting The Debate Over Lia Thomas Winning As A Trans Swimmer (18:23) RJ On Why This Is A Huge Moment In Sports (21:23) How Differing Laws Across States Impact Trans Athletes (25:38) Differentiating Between "Men's" & "Women's" Sports (28:05) Mental Health Of Women Losing To Trans Athletes (34:09) Channing's Three Daughters And Teaching Them To Compete (38:18) Wanting To Compete vs Wanting To Be Yourself (39:45) Ariana's Competition And Dealing With Failure (45:58) Raw Emotions And Negativity After Lia Won (48:20) NCAA Setting Competitive Boundaries For The Future (49:50) Why The Situation Is So Overwhelming For Many (52:15) OUTRO ► YouTube! 💻 https://www.youtube.com/roadtrippin ► iTunes 🔊 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/road-trippin/id1195897108?mt=2 ► Spotify 🔊 https://open.spotify.com/show/4Q4qqC6UxoTB09ePc14AbB?si=4a514bea430b4b8b 🍷 FOLLOW ROAD TRIPPIN' 🍷 ► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/roadtrippin/ ► Twitter | https://twitter.com/roadtrippinpod 🍷 FOLLOW ALLIE CLIFTON 🍷 ► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/al.clifton/?hl=en ► Twitter | https://twitter.com/RealAClifton 🍷 FOLLOW RICHARD JEFFERSON 🍷 ► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/richardajefferson/?hl=en ► Twitter | https://twitter.com/Rjeff24 🍷 FOLLOW CHANNING FRYE 🍷 ► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/channingfrye/ ► Twitter | https://twitter.com/channingfrye #RoadTrippin'Podcast #BlueWire Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices