Swim coach Paul Frost’s child sexual abuse survivor says National Redress Scheme flawed

Ahead of his abuser’s sentence today, a man has called the National Redress Scheme a “failure” because institutions are not compelled to sign up leaving survivors to fall through the cracks.

One of the victims of Sydney swim coach Paul Frost, who is son of Ian Thorpe’s coach, speaks out days before Frost will be sentenced for sexually abusing 11 children at the Doug Frost Swim School. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

James* was only 12 years old when he started training in the pool competitively and he always knew to hop out when his swimming coach gestured his head towards the change room.

That was where he would go to touch himself before Paul Frost would join him.

Frost started making sexual comments before he used highly-calculated and manipulative ways to get children alone.

He would use his charisma to win-over parents and form a special friendship with students to abuse them over many years at a place that should have been a safe haven for them to develop their talents.

Paul Frost, the son of Doug Frost who trained Olympian Ian Thorpe, was found guilty of 43 counts of child sexual abuse in June.

Paul Frost was found guilty of 43 child sexual abuse charges. Picture: Gaye Gerard / NCA Newswire

Frost abused 11 students at the Doug Frost Swim School in Padstow in southwest Sydney in the 1990s and 2000s.

Now just days away from being sentenced on Thursday for his depraved crimes, one survivor has revealed Frost’s grooming tactics.

“It started with sexual comments and innuendo then he would encourage me to masturbate during training,” James said.

“He would gesture for me to hop out which I knew meant to go masturbate in the change rooms.

“He then would come in and watch. Frost then joined in by touching me or he would ask me to touch him.”

James said Frost had “classic predatory perpetrator behaviour”.

“He was highly-intelligent, charismatic and well liked in the community,” he said.

“My parents thought he was really good. He was a skilled, crafty manipulator.”

James remembers thinking he and Frost had more than a normal coach/swimmer relationship but in fact he was taught how to be sexual rather than swimming tactics.

The survivor is raising awareness about the flaws in the National Redress Scheme. Picture: Justin Lloyd

“The sexual behaviour was normalised,” James said. “He had built up so much trust, skilfully over a period of time.

“For the majority of the time there were never parents around in the mornings and he used that to his advantage.

“He restructured training to create more opportunities for himself. It makes his crimes much more calculated.”

James said there was no education about grooming and he didn’t know it was not appropriate nor did he experience what a healthy sexual relationship should be from a young age.

“I was at such a vulnerable stage in my development during puberty,” James said. “It therefore made me question my sexuality.

“It is f----- that my first sexual experience was with my swim coach. I can’t go back and change it and I have to live with that for the rest of my life.”

James said the abuse, which decreased after he turned 16 and he trained less, caused him to question his sexuality and to experiment.

When he was older he had problems with long-term relationships, struggled with monogamy and was sexually promiscuous.

He did not realise the impact until he made long statements to police and unpacked the years of abuse over many hours.

“I had put it behind me. Buried it. I gave it no thought in my life,” James said.

“I felt a moral obligation to come forward because someone else had asked for my support and help.”

Frost will be sentenced on Thursday. Picture: NCA Newswire / David Swift

It was more than three years later that Frost, a schoolteacher, was found guilty.

“Giving evidence is 10 times worse than the abuse. I had to sit in a courtroom with Frost and 20 other people,” he said.

“I was forced to recount every detail – what he did, where he stood, how he touched me, how he smelt, how he looked, how I felt.

“All while a lawyer was accusing me of having a fantasy about my coach, of lying, conjuring up the story and colluding with other victims.

“Nothing can prepare you for that. It is the worst thing I ever went through.”

Survivor calls out flaws in National Redress Scheme

James has labelled a scheme designed to offer payment as a “failure” because institutions are not compelled to sign up leaving survivors to fall through the cracks.

He investigated the National Redress Scheme – which exists to hold institutions accountable – after he was unlikely to be successful through civil litigation.

Redress can include a payment, counselling and a direct personal response from an institution.

The Doug Frost Swim School was registered and accredited with Swim Coaches and Teachers Australia, known as Swim Australia, which is the peak industry body for 600 swim schools.

Frost abused 11 victims. Picture: Eliza Barr

“Swim Australia has not joined the scheme,” James said. “There is no recourse for any compensation despite the life-changing trauma we have gone through.”

James said the application process was confusing with the burden of finding out information put on victims.

“The government scheme is basically a pile of junk,” he said.

“Any organisation that associates with children has a moral responsibility to opt-in but it should be mandatory and the government should enforce that with policies.

“Swim Australia said they adopted child safety policies but it doesn’t have to be a member of the redress scheme.

“While there has been good come out of the scheme, it has failed many survivors.”

CEO Brendon Ward said if victims made claims then Swim Australia would “certainly consider applying to the scheme”.

“We investigated joining in 2019 and determined not to because no claims had been made against us under the scheme,” he said.

“It was likely that we would not satisfy the application criteria to join the scheme; and if anyone does make a claim we have six months to apply.”

“The duty of care for participants rests with individual swim schools and swim teachers.”

A Department of Social Services spokeswoman said institutions that worked with children were encouraged to join and applications could not be assessed until the responsible institution joined.

Institutions must demonstrate they can pay redress for current and future applicants.

The government doesn’t have the authority to compel an institution to participate but can publicly name and impose financial sanctions if it does not join.

*A pseudonym has been used to protect the victim’s identity.