Swimmer Riley Gaines Says Helen Keller’s Existence ‘Doesn’t Sit Right’ With Her: ‘Did She Really Exist?’

Riley Gaines has her doubts about one historical figure — Helen Keller.

During her appearance on The Katie Miller Podcast on June 16, Gaines was asked to name one conspiracy theory that she believed in.

“I’m a pretty horrible conspiracy theorist to be honest with you,” the former University of Kentucky swimmer began.

“Like Helen Keller, if I’m being honest with you, did she really exist? Like, did she really exist?” Gaines asked. “I can’t wrap my mind around it. Like, you’re telling me there’s a woman who can’t see, she can’t hear, but she wrote a book?”

She acknowledged that her opinion might not be popular with the masses, however.

“I don’t know. Like I’m the worst conspiracy theorist ever. Like I’m way too naive to believe that actually happened,” she continued.

Gaines then predicted that her comments would quickly draw criticism online.

“That’s going to be the part that’s clipped, by the way,” Gaines said. “It’s going to be, like, ‘Riley is so stupid and doesn’t actually think Helen Keller is real.'”

“OK, fine, maybe, but I don’t know — I think it doesn’t sit right with me,” she added.

Keller was an American author, educator and activist who was born in Alabama in 1880. She suffered an illness as a toddler that left her deaf and blind. Keller learned to communicate with the help of her teacher, Anne Sullivan, who taught her how to associate words with objects by spelling into her hand.

She eventually became the first deaf and blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree when she graduated from Radcliffe College in 1904, and she wrote multiple books during her lifetime — including her autobiography, The Story of My Life.

Several years ago, the theory that Keller never existed began making the rounds on social media. It became particularly popular with the Gen Z crowd, but, as it turns out, there’s plenty of documented evidence that Keller was a real person.

Keller lived until 1968 when she died at the age of 87, and evidence of her existence can be found in photographs, newspaper interviews, college records, government records and even film footage.