Maddie Groves retracts a statement about her personal choice following a sexism controversy.
Maddie Groves, a disgruntled swimmer, has reached out to the sport’s hierarchy, offering to detail her allegations of an abusive culture among the elite ranks.
Groves has offered to meet Swimming Australia (SA) officials through an intermediary nearly a week after igniting a sexism controversy.
“We can confirm that Madeleine Groves contacted Swimming Australia via a third party,” SA said in a statement provided to AAP on Wednesday.
Groves extended an invitation to meet with SA President Kieren Perkins and CEO Alex Baumann.
“We look forward to engaging in this constructive dialogue,” SA stated.
The controversy has cast a pall over Australia’s Olympic selection trials for next month’s Tokyo Games, with Groves withdrawing from the meet via a series of explosive social media posts.
Last Wednesday, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist announced her withdrawal from the trials via Instagram.
The following day, Groves wrote on Twitter: “Let this serve as a lesson to all misogynistic perverts in sport and their bootlickers.”
You cannot continue to exploit young women and girls by body shaming or medically gaslighting them and then expecting them to represent you in order to earn your annual bonus.
The clock is ticking.”
Groves’ comments sparked a barrage of claims about female swimmers being fat shamed and a broader abusive culture in the sport.
SA has committed to establishing an independent all-female panel to investigate Groves’ and others’ claims.
SA director Tracy Stockwell stated on Tuesday that the organization “implores patience as we determine the best course of action.”
Following Tuesday’s meeting of the governing body’s board of directors, Baumann admitted to failings in the governing body’s complaints process, admitting that swimmers were largely unaware of their options for raising concerns.
Within 24 hours, SA will contact all elite swimmers to explain the process and encourage anyone with grievances to come forward.
“We recognize that the complaint process should be easily accessible, and we have committed to ensuring that all of our members are aware of the channels available to them,” Baumann said Tuesday.
“In the past, the independent channels for lodgement of complaints with the Australian Institute of Sport and Sport Integrity Australia may have been unclear. “We could have done better.”
