OPINION | Views expressed in this article reflect the author's opinion.

12-time All-American Riley Gaines of the University of Kentucky was a swimming champion until her senior year when lost to Lia Thomas, a biological male.

Lia, formerly William, ranked 462 among other males, but won first place at the NCAA Women’s Championship.

Gaines recently appeared at a Leadership Institute event and asked an anthropologist whether he could tell the difference between a man and a woman by looking at bone structure.

“No,” the anthropologist responded, which caused the room to burst into laughter.

“I actually have a question for you,” Gaines began. “You being an anthropologist, which anthropology is the study of human civilization. So if you were to dig up a human, two humans, in 100 years from now, both man and woman, could you tell the difference, strictly off of bones?”

The anthropologist wasn’t happy with the crowd’s response.

“I’m not sure why I’m being laughed at if I’m the expert in the room,” the anthropologist said. “Have any of you been to archeological sites? Have any of you studied biological anthropology?”

“I’m just saying, I’ve got over 150 years of data,” he continued. “I’m just curious as to why I’m being laughed at.”

“I actually, believe it or not, have put a lot of research into this because – ” Gaines said before the anthropologist cut her off. “I have a PhD,” the anthropologist said.