Swimming legend Kieren Perkins secretly criticised by high-level investigators for comments they claim discouraged whistleblowers

High-level investigators criticised Kieren Perkins for comments they claim discouraged whistleblowers from testifying in a review into the abuse of female swimmers.

Olympic swimming legend Kieren Perkins was secretly criticised by high-level investigators for comments which they claimed discouraged whistleblowers from testifying during a confidential review into the abuse of female participants while he was still president of Swimming Australia.

While the panel found Perkins did not intend to intimidate potential witnesses, Australia’s highest-ranked sports official was still singled out for the impact of the comments in which he disputed the notion there were cultural issues in the sport.

The criticism of Perkins has been kept a closely-guarded secret until now, even though it has been almost two years since the independent panellists revealed how some informants withdrew from the inquiry because of what Perkins had said in a radio interview just after the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Perkins was speaking just days after the independent panel had been announced and began calling for informants to step forward.

“Swimming is in a great place at the moment,” Perkins said at the time.

“That doesn’t mean that we’re perfect, it doesn’t mean there’s not challenges, but to suggest that there’s some kind of deep endemic issues is miles away from the mark…

“I defy anyone to suggest there’s a cultural issue in swimming at the moment.”

Kieren Perkins was secretly criticised by high-level investigators for comments prior to a review into the treatment of women in swimming. Picture: Lisa Clarke

In their scathing review of the sport, titled “Beneath the Surface: the experiences of women and girls in swimming”, the investigators said Perkins’ comments unwittingly reinforced fears that any complaints would not be taken seriously in a sport with a long history of male chauvinism.

“Some people who had requested interviews cancelled them as they considered these views demonstrated the very issues they wanted to ventilate of the closed “boys’ club” which refuses or denies that there are any valid issues to be raised,” the investigators wrote.

The reference to Perkins, who is now the head of the Australian Sports Commission, is contained in a harrowing 114-page review into the experiences of women and girls in Australian swimming.

Perkins initiated the independent review but he also rejected the recommendation to let the public know everything what was in the report, arguing that it could identify some of the courageous whistleblowers who had been promised confidentiality.

“I 100 per cent stand by the decision to not publish the report in full. It was not a decision taken lightly at the time and was made due to the confidential nature of the contents,” Perkins said in a statement.

Perkins is now the CEO of the Australian Sports Commission. Picture: Gary Ramage

“Anyone with any knowledge of the sport would easily be able to identify the individuals involved who were brave enough to go through a confidential process for the betterment of the sport.

“Publishing the report would put the mental health and safety of athletes at risk and undermine all future reviews that ask for confidential involvement of athletes and the overall integrity of cultural reviews.

“Swimming Australia has taken ownership of their cultural problems by publishing the 46 recommendations of the review on their website and regularly updating the status of the recommendations.

“At last count, I understand 39 of the 46 recommendations have been completed with work on the others underway.”

When he read the report himself, Perkins said he was shocked by the findings and added that it was time for sports to “own up to their failures”.

Perkins and Swimming Australia did issue an unreserved apology to the generations of women and girls who suffered mistreatment and irreparable harm shortly after the report was completed in late 2021.