Written by Following her initial complaints of misogyny within Swimming Australia, Maddie Groves has further alleged that the culture of Swimming Australia is so bad that people who wish to thrive in the sport are forced to ignore entrenched negative behaviors. Groves, a two-time Olympic silver medalist announced via Instagram on June 9 her decision to withdraw from Olympic trials for Tokyo, and tweeted the following day that she would not stand for female swimmers being exploited:
“Let this be a lesson to all misogynistic perverts in sport and their bootlickers, 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.” – Maddie Groves
Amid calls from Swimming Australia for Groves to provide further detail of her claims, she responded last Friday with:
“It would be a mistake for anyone to reduce my decision to a singular incident. “My decision is partly because there’s a pandemic on, but mostly it’s the culmination of years of witnessing and ‘benefitting’ from a culture that relies on people ignoring bad behavior to thrive. I need a break. If starting this conversation will save even just one young girl from something like being told to lose weight or diet, not going to the Olympics will have been worth it.” – Maddie Groves
Swimming Australia president Kieren Perkins said the organization had tried to make contact with Groves this week… thank heavens that’s that sorted then. A tad negative perhaps? But what is more concerning to the organization; that they could have misogynistic perverts in their ranks or that they seem to have a dismissive attitude to one of their own swimmer’s claims? Both should raise red flags. Swimming Australia has a responsibility to pursue the information needed to investigate despite communication issues from the complainant. Directing it back on Groves because she “hasn’t engaged with us directly yet” could perhaps be interpreted as a bit of an excuse and could appear to speak more of their disdain for her taking her issue directly to social media and ‘outing’ them on the issue publicly. Regardless, it cannot be assumed that her allegations are false, or mistaken just because she is being mysterious about details. If Swimming Australia is as concerned about abuse as they claim in their statement about safety in the organization, they need to begin a review of the behaviors, attitudes, and policies established in the culture.
Groves has certainly garnered the support of her fellow swimmers if nothing else, fellow Olympian and former training partner Mitch Larkin describes Groves’ message as heartbreaking. He acknowledges that Swimming Australia has had a troubled culture in the past and that, in the case of the Dolphin’s team at least, positive support structures and strong team culture has been an ongoing project.
Highly accomplished butterfly swimmer, Susie O’Neill fears Groves fears reprisals possible from progressing with her claims and has encouraged her to reach out to her support networks. Anne Ruston, Federal Social Services Minister proclaims the importance of a safe workplace and has urged Swimming Australia to proactively investigate these allegations. People deserve to feel safe, respected, and comfortable at work, and the pool is Maddie’s workplace.