Australian Olympic swimmer Maddie Groves says she was sexually abused from the age of 13 by a person still working in the sport.
Groves, the silver medallist in the 200m butterfly at the 2016 Rio Olympics, made several allegations in an interview with the ABC yesterday, following social media posts aimed at “misogynistic perverts and their bootlickers”.
Groves published those posts when withdrawing from the Australian Olympic swimming trials in June.
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The 26-year-old opted against naming the individual who abused her and said she didn’t want to pursue criminal charges.
However, Groves separately accused two coaches of mistreating her during the ABC interview.
She raised allegations against Michael Palfrey, who coached her between the ages of 12 and 15, for his methods, which included having swimmers weigh themselves on the pool deck.
Groves said she would “run to the change rooms” when Palfrey carried out weigh-ins and was watchful with what she ate, while she also claimed that he sometimes left bruises on her body when demonstrating swimming movements.
Swimming Australia told the ABC it had referred the allegations against Palfrey to Sport Integrity Australia.
Groves also spoke about the alleged conduct of former national youth coach Glenn Beringen during his time at the Oceania swimming championships in Samoa.
“As a 15-year-old, I was sent to a foreign country basically alone with no real support network, having this strange man be the one that was going to look after me,” Groves told the ABC.
“There was seemingly no interest in speaking to me when I was clothed … but as soon as I was in my togs, it was the time when this person wanted to take me away from the group and have these intimate conversations with me and stand very close to me, inside my personal space and really standing over me and staring and leering at me.”
Groves also accused Beringen of “blatantly staring at my breasts”, as well as “touching of my arm (and) touching of my lower back”.
She also claimed “he would adjust my tog strap”.
Groves said she raised her complaints against Beringen in 2017 during an independent review by the Australian Swimmers Association into the FINA World Championships campaign in Hungary.
Beringen told the ABC he denied the allegation, while the ABC has reported that Groves was told by Swimming Australia that her claim was “unsubstantiated”.
Swimming Australia did not renew Beringen’s contract this year.
“Swimming Australia remains resolute in its commitment to continually improve our sport to ensure it is a safe and thriving environment for all participants from the grassroots through to the elite level,” SA said in a statement.