Swimming Australia yesterday said that there is “unacceptable behavior” in the sport dated back decades after reports that six more elite athletes plan to make complaints about misconduct.
The governing body has been under the gun since dual Olympic silver-medalist Maddie Groves pulled out of the Australian trials this month, blaming “misogynistic perverts” and “their boot lickers.”
In response, it announced plans to set up an independent female panel to investigate issues relating to women and girls, and on Friday held a “productive” meeting with Groves.
Photo: AP
“We acknowledge some members of the swimming community have experienced unacceptable behavior, some of this dates back decades,” it said in a statement. “The work to address and remedy this has been ongoing.”
Local media reported another six former swimmers had come forward with new complaints, at least one of which was of a sexual nature.
The governing body said that it had not been formally notified and was not aware of the specifics, but that it was “deeply concerned and understands the gravity of such claims.”
“Swimming Australia has ethics and integrity processes in place, including independent avenues,” it said. “We will always investigate any complaint with rigor.”
A chair of the independent panel is to be announced within days, with the governing body having already spoken to parents and swimmers, and asked them to make submissions.
Swimming Australia has previously announced a separate strategic review across the organization led by new chief executive Alex Baumann, a two-time Canadian Olympic gold medalist.
Groves, who came second in the 200m butterfly and 4x100 medley relay at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, sent shockwaves through the sport with her allegations.
The target of her comments was not clear, but she said: “Let this be a lesson to all misogynistic perverts in sport and their boot lickers.”
“You can no longer exploit young women and girls, body shame or medically gaslight them, and then expect them to represent you so you can earn your annual bonus. Time’s up.”
Former elite swimmer Jenny McMahon, a Commonwealth Games gold medalist who is now a senior academic at the University of Tasmania, subsequently said that the sport had long suffered from a “degrading and abusive” culture.
McMahon said she had spent 14 years interviewing hundreds of swimmers and coaches, uncovering a pattern of “toxic” coaching habits.
By the time Cameron Menzies finally left the arena on Monday, the blood gushing from the gash on his right hand had trickled down his wrist, part of his forearm and — somehow — up to his face. Smeared in crimson and regret, and already mouthing sheepish apologies to the crowd, he disappeared down the steps, pursued by a stern-looking Matt Porter, the chief executive of Professional Darts Corp (PDC). The physical scars from Menzies’ encounter with the Alexandra Palace drinks table after his 3-2 defeat against Charlie Manby at the Darts World Championship would be gone within a few weeks.
Manchester United on Monday blew the lead three times to miss out on moving up to fifth in the Premier League as AFC Bournemouth would not be beaten in a thrilling 4-4 draw at Old Trafford. United have lost just once in their past 10 games, but Ruben Amorim would be frustrated as more points at home were frittered away despite arguably the best attacking display of his reign in charge. Amad Diallo and Casemiro gave the hosts a halftime lead either side of Antoine Semenyo’s equalizer. Two Bournemouth goals from Evanilson and Marcus Tavernier in seven minutes at the start of the
LOW-GOAL SHOOT-OUT: Of the nine penalties in the shoot-out, only three went in, with Flamengo’s Samuel Lino, and Vitinha and Nuno Mendes of PSG netting Matvei Safonov on Wednesday made four straight penalty saves in a penalty shoot-out to help Paris Saint-Germain beat Flamengo in the Intercontinental Cup final and win a sixth trophy of the year. The Russian goalkeeper was thrown in the air by his teammates after his exploits in the shoot-out, which was won 2-1 by PSG after a 1-1 draw after extra-time. It completed a trophy-laden 12 months for the French team, who had already won the Trophee des Champions, Ligue 1, the Coupe de France, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup — also on penalties against Tottenham Hotspur in
Italian Luca de Aliprandini described Saturday’s World Cup giant slalom at Val d’Isere as the hardest race of his life, coming two days after his Swiss partner Michelle Gisin suffered a heavy fall in training which required neck surgery. De Aliprandini finished 26th in the men’s event won by Loic Meillard, but the result paled into insignificance with two-time Olympic ski champion Gisin in hospital with injuries to her wrist, knee and cervical spine (neck). “It was Michelle’s wish that I race here. I couldn’t say no to her, but it was the toughest race of my entire life,” an emotional De
RSS