Australian swimming culture under fire in harrowing report

An independent report titled Beneath the Surface: The experiences of women and girls in swimming has come to light, with Chris Ronalds, Katherine Bates and professor Alex Parker lifting the lid on startling revelations from a group of 158 people including athletes, parents, coaches, officials and volunteers.

Swimming Australia officials have opted against releasing the report, citing the potential risk to the mental health of those who provided input.

But a News Corp report has detailed the harrowing treatment of female swimmers from 2016-21, painting a dark picture of the culture that has existed within Australia's most successful Olympic sport.

Athletes were abused about their weight and subjected to public weigh-ins, and are said to have developed eating disorders after being called "fat". Young swimmers reportedly told investigators they were groped underwater by male training partners but did not feel comfortable reporting the incident to male coaches, while gay athletes and staff were said to have been told to hide their sexuality.

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Former swimming champion Alicia Coutts revealed earlier this year she was, during a decorated career, "abused for putting on two kilos when I had my period", subject to daily weigh-ins and told she could not drink anything other than water because she had to lose weight.

"You look back at it now and you think, you experienced that treatment for a long period of time and nobody batted an eyelid," Coutts said.

"I spent a lot of my time at the AIS experiencing that. I spent a long period of my life trying to suppress those memories and forget about them. That brought a lot of demons up for me."

Swimming Australia was met with 46 recommendations as a result of the report, with the governing body implementing 39 to date and vowing to finalise the remaining seven.

"It is important to highlight that much work has been done, both before the report was delivered and since, to create a better environment for our athletes, and equip our coaches and support staff with the best tools available, and we will continue to commit to the change to make our sport a safe and inclusive environment," a Swimming Australia statement said.

"It is important to note, there have been great strides in the past two years in response to this report and as an organisation we will continue to honour the confidentiality guaranteed to participants.

"The board had considered public release of the full report, however, decided against release due to the significant risk to the confidentiality, and potentially mental health, of those that provided input.

"Swimming Australia is committed to continuous improvement in all areas of the sport with new practices, guidelines and processes constantly reviewed and implemented.

"We view this as a process that is never complete, but rather a constant evolution for best practice."

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