Australian swimmer Madeline Grove withdraws from trials citing misogyny

Australian swimmer and two-time Olympic silver medalist Madeline Grove has pulled out of her nation’s swimming trials ahead of the upcoming Olympic Games over misogynistic behavior. She cited incidents where she was made to feel uncomfortable by the men involved in her sport. Her decision was revealed on social media platform Instagram on Thursday. She then went to explain her decision on Twitter. She called out “misogynistic perverts in sport” and slammed them for body shaming and medically gaslighting young women and girls in sports. This revelation by Grove might prove to have significant implications on the Australian swimming team for the Olympics, especially with the Games right around the corner.

“Let this be a lesson to all misogynistic perverts in sport and their boot lickers. 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,” Grove tweeted.

PRIOR INCIDENTS

This is not the first time Grove is dealing with harassers involved in her sport. In December of last year, she had written on social media that she had lodged a complaint against a man who had been staring at her while she was in her swimwear, making her feel uncomfortable. She later went on to say that the same man, who is also associated with swimming, was in fact promoted.

“I think he went through some personal development first hopefully to teach him to not stare at young women in their toga (swimsuit), THEN he got promoted,” she tweeted.

The second incident in which she was made to feel uncomfortable by a well-known coach who had made a lewd comment directed towards her. He had apologized 15 minutes later but not out of his own conscience, but probably because the team psych had told him to.

Australia’s governing body for swimming, Swimming Australia (SA), said that they had reached out to the Olympian following her comments in December. “Swimming Australia reached out to Maddie in December 2020 to enquire about a tweet sent by her that referenced potential abuse by someone connected with swimming,” it said.

They revealed that Grove had declined to provide any further information regarding the matter and they did not have any previous complaints on the record from the Olympian. “Maddie declined to provide further information nor do we have any previous complaints on record from Maddie,” SA said.

“All allegations concerning child abuse or sexual misconduct are taken seriously by Swimming Australia. We consider the welfare, safety, and wellbeing of children and young people as paramount, and we have a duty to make inquiries to uphold the standards of our sport,” it concluded.

The Australian swimming team’s trials ahead of the Olympics will begin in Adelaide on Sunday. It will be interesting to see, following Grove’s statement, whether there will be any changes made to the team. However, it seems unlikely, so close to the Olympics, unless the charges are extremely serious.