Female sports advocate Riley Gaines is counting her blessings these days, which are more precious to her than a lifetime of trophies accumulated over her accomplished collegiate swimming career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former Kentucky Wildcat welcomed her first daughter to the world on Thursday, saying, \u201cGod has blessed\u201d their burgeoning young family. She held her daughter, named Margot, next to her husband, Louis Barker, in new photos posted to social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing that could\u2019ve prepared me for a love like this. God has blessed us beyond belief. Welcome to the world, sweet Margot,\u201d Gaines wrote in the caption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gaines, 25, hasn\u2019t settled down since hanging up her swim cap. She was 31 weeks pregnant when she swam the 1.25 miles from San Francisco to Alcatraz while surrounded by a team of U.S. Navy SEALs, combat veterans, and her husband in the event that any emergency occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The celebrated conservative speaker announced her pregnancy at a Turning Point USA event in Texas back in June. She pivoted to the good news after responding to criticism from Olympic medalist Simone Biles that she has the body of \u201ca male\u201d as the two feuded over social media about transgender athletes in women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow many men do you know that have this,\u201d she responded, showing her baby bump and sonogram images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe next generation that our little girl is going to be a part of, that is who you all are fighting for and who Turning Point is fighting for. And so from a father-to-be, thank you, keep fighting \u2026 and thank you,\u201d Barker told the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Biles, 28, later offered\u00a0an apology to Gaines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wanted to follow up from my last tweets. I\u2019ve always believed competitive equity & inclusivity are both essential in sport. The current system doesn\u2019t adequately balance these important principles, which often leads to frustration and heated exchanges, and it didn\u2019t help for me to get personal with Riley, which I apologize for,\u201d Biles said in the post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/states-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/gaines-1.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n