Too many female athletes experience body shaming, says two-time Olympian Sally Hunter

A two-time Olympian has joined the chorus exposing the poisonous culture in Australian swimming, saying “too many female athletes experience body shaming”.

Sally Hunter is happy ‘regrettable’ incidents in swimming have been brought to light

A two-time Olympian has joined the chorus exposing the toxic culture in Australian swimming, saying “too many female athletes experience body shaming”.

Sally Hunter (nee Foster), in a lengthy social media post, called out the mistreatment of women in Australian sport and said too often “female athletes” are left feeling “uncomfortable and unsupported”.

Meanwhile swimmer Maddie Groves, whose allegations sparked the latest controversy, has agreed to meet with Swimming Australia to discuss her concerns about the sport’s culture.

Last week Groves announced she would not be competing at the Olympic swimming trials in Adelaide, citing “misogynistic perverts in sport” in a social media post explaining her decision. The Olympic silver medallist claimed she had suffered “body shaming” and medical “gaslighting”.

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Sally Hunter has welcomed some of swimming’s more regrettable incidents being brought to the surface.

Hunter, who retired in 2016, said she was “happy” some “regrettable” incidents in Australian swimming had been brought to light and hoped it would shift the culture.

Hunter, who competed at the Beijing and London Games, said not only did “too many” women experience body shaming but also “unprofessional and inappropriate communications” in Australian sport.

“As an Olympian and former member of the Australian swimming team, I am happy that some regrettable incidences (sic) have been bought (sic) into the public purview,” she wrote in a LinkedIn post. “Change begins with acknowledgment that a problem exists. And there are problems.”

Hunter, who was once a member of the Australian swim team’s leadership group, also wrote: “There has been a lot of discussion in the media recently about the culture within Australian swimming, and within Australia sport more generally. As someone who was born into swimming, it is sad to reflect on my sport in such a negative light.”

“Many female athletes would, I believe, agree that sport is another domain in which women are too often made to feel uncomfortable and unsupported.”

Emily Seebohm, pictured hugging new pool sensation Kaylee McKeown (right), has spoken of her utter despair and misery when recounting her bodyshaming hell.

“Too many female athletes experience body-shaming, unprofessional and inappropriate communications, and complex and challenging relationships with coaches and higher authorities. This was part of my motivation to do mentoring work. If this work makes it possible for even one athlete to express herself more freely, feel supported in their career, and realise their dreams, it will be worthwhile.”

Hunter also claimed a silver medal in the 200m breaststroke at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and was a member of Australia‘s gold-medal-winning 4x100m medley relay team.

Hunter’s post follows Groves‘ allegations that a sexist and “pervy” culture existed in the sport. Since Groves took her stance, another former Olympic swimmer, Dr Jenny McMahon, came forward with the results of 14 years of research revealing “degrading and abusive” swimming culture. Dr McMahon’s research also gave examples of “toxic” coaching practices.

“It’s a patriarchal, male-dominated culture, with a guru-­fixation – it’s dysfunctional,” Dr McMahon told The Australian on Monday. “It looks like all smiles, gold medals and PBs to the outsider, but it leaves a trail of broken athletes and coaches when they do not conform and perform.”

Nine Newspapers reported Groves has made contact with Swimming Australia — via a third party — for the first time since her comments about swimming’s culture. Groves offered to meet with SA president Kieren Perkins and chief executive officer Alex Baumann.

“We look forward to having this constructive conversation,” SA said in a statement.

Last week Groves announced she would not be competing at the Olympic swimming trials in Adelaide, citing “misogynistic perverts in sport” in a social media post explaining her decision.

“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,” she wrote.

Thursday is the last day of the Australian Olympic swim team trials.

Originally published as Too many female athletes experience body shaming, says two-time Olympian Sally Hunter