Olympic swimmer Madeline Groves reveals she was sexually abused as a teen by swim official

Australian Olympic swimmer Madeline Groves has revealed horrific detail about being molested as a teenager by an official she says still works in the sport. WARNING: Confronting content.

Madeline Groves of Australia has spoken out about the abuse she endured

Australian Olympic swimmer Madeline Groves says she was “molested by an adult male” when she was a teenage swimmer.

Groves has accused two swimming officials of misconduct and lifted the lid on what she says is a culture of “misogyny” and “perversion” in the sport.

She complained to Swimming Australia about another official who she says stared at her breasts and touched her inappropriately.

Groves has told the ABC that she was sexually abused as a teenager by a person who still works in swimming.

The revelations have emerged in the wake of her explosive social media posts in June, when she withdrew from the trials for the Tokyo Olympic Games, “as a lesson to misogynistic perverts and their bootlickers”.

Madeline Groves has revealed the horrific abuse she suffered as a teen

“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,” Groves tweeted.

The posts ignited a media firestorm and led to the appointment of an independent panel to investigate the treatment of women and girls in the sport.

In a statement, Swimming Australia said it had taken all Groves’ complaints seriously and taken steps to address them.

Groves said she decided to speak publicly after learning of an investigation into former elite swimming coach, John Wright.

Wright is accused of sexually abusing a number of teenage boys he trained at Queensland pools in the 1980s and 1990s.

The reports led to a Queensland Police investigation and Wright’s arrest. He is now in custody facing nine charges of indecent dealing with a child and one count of common assault

“I think seeing the report on the John Wright case, there’s this attitude that that type of thing is a historical issue and it doesn’t happen anymore and that times have changed,” Groves said.

“But I don’t think that’s necessarily true.

“Because when I was underage, on multiple occasions I was actually molested by an adult male.

“At the time I didn’t feel like there was anyone I could tell about that. And there’s no one in swimming that I would trust disclosing that to now, either.”

Groves said the abuse continued until she was 18.

She declined to identify the alleged perpetrator but said he still works in swimming.

Groves withdrew from the Tokyo Olympic trials

“I haven’t made a complaint about this individual,” she said in an interview that will be aired at 7.30pm tonight on the ABC.

“I guess my experience from trying to make complaints about other people in sport was so discouraging, it really didn’t leave me feeling that making a complaint about this person would be any different to the others.

“I’ve had a couple of other friends and people that I know in swimming that have been sexually abused and assaulted and they’ve been through that process.

“It ends up being really disappointing … and things don’t really seem to change. It’s sort of swept under the rug.

“And I think if I made a complaint, I don’t really think anything would be any different to that.

“It’s an uncomfortable thing to have to talk about and deal with, but it’s not my fault, and I just hope that by speaking about this stuff that it is taken seriously and that there are protections put in place.”

Groves goes on to explain that her “misogynistic perverts” tweet was the culmination of years of frustration and disappointment dating back to when she started competitive swimming at the age of 12.

CALL FOR CHANGE

“Deciding not to compete at Olympic trials was a culmination of those feelings, and really, in a way, like a cry for help that hopefully someone would listen and maybe do something about this huge issue in Australian sport,” she said.

She said she’d experienced “a difficult journey” with the sport’s governing body, Swimming Australia.

“I tried to sort of work with the organisation in good faith that they were trying to do the right thing and maybe trying to help me, and they disappointed me repeatedly,” she said.

Groves has previously raised issues with sexist and controlling behaviour from other coaches.

Groves trained under coach Michael Palfrey from the age of 12 to 15 at St Peter’s Western Swim Club in Brisbane.

Groves called out "misogynistic perverts"

Australian swimmer Madeline Groves

In 2014, Palfrey was the subject of two WAIS investigations into claims of improper conduct towards junior swimmers. WAIS CEO Steven Lawrence Armstrong said in both instances the complaints were found to be “unsubstantiated”.

Groves said Palfrey required her and other girls to weigh themselves on the pool deck, often while dripping wet in their swimwear.

“I would basically go and hide in the bathrooms, or go and hide, like, in another part of the pool area so that I wouldn’t have to do it or they wouldn’t be able to find me,” she said.

She alleges that Palfrey controlled what she ate and made sexist comments.

In a statement, Swimming Australia said it was unaware of Groves’ complaints about Palfrey until it was contacted by the ABC.

SA said it had referred Groves complaints to the independent complaints body, Sport Integrity Australia, for consideration.

“Given it is now under an ongoing investigation, it would not be appropriate to make further comment on the matter,” it said.