FORMER Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has responded to an article that outlines the treatment of female swimmers within the Australian national swimming team.<\/p>\n
The Daily Telegraph reported that a recent independent review found a toxic culture towards female athletes which found women were at the receiving end of groping, sexual innuendo, body shaming and physical and mental abuse.<\/p>\n
The review found that behaviour from coaches led female swimmers to develop eating disorders following public humiliation.<\/p>\n
Magnussen found the report confronting and said that if the claims were true, the coaches at the centre of the allegations should be weeded out and stood down.<\/p>\n
\u201cSwimming is this interesting sport where your body is your vessel,\u201d Magnussen said on SEN 1170.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow heavy you are directly impacts your flotation in the water.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere this is a really delicate matter is that there are few sports that are weight dependent that are also unisex.<\/p>\n
\u201cSitting within that [skin-fold] group now will be some guys and girls. Some of those girls may be 15 or 16 years of age.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat feedback is suddenly taken very differently.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never been a fan of bringing people down and using negative feedback to get outcomes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there are coaches out there who are saying that \u2018your body looks like a sausage roll\u2019 or \u2018you are too fat, lay off the dessert\u2019, weed them out.<\/p>\n
“There is no place for that in the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n
The review also found a lack of female coaches and a culture of silence surrounding women\u2019s health and unwanted touching.<\/p>\n
If this article has raised any concerns, contact Lifeline at 13 11 14.<\/p>\n