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Australian swimmer withdraws from Olympic trials citing 'misogynistic perverts'

June 11, 2021
Australian swimmer Maddie Groves on the podium after winning silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Two-time Olympic silver medal-winning Australian swimmer Maddie Groves today announced her shock decision to pull out of the Australian swim trials for the Tokyo Olympics, citing her decision as a stand against "misogynistic perverts" she claims exist within the sport.

Groves, who won two silver medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics, made the explosive claims in a social media post today.

"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," the 26-year-old Groves wrote.

"Time's UP."

In a separate post, Groves said she was "relieved" to not be competing in the trials that begin in Adelaide this weekend, but said she was not retiring from the sport, and would be racing in other competitions after the Tokyo Olympics.

Swimming Australia boss Kieran Perkins told Nine News Groves had not yet made an official complaint, but urged her to get in touch with the organisation.

"I can certainly reassure her that claims like these are of the upmost importance to us, and providing a safe environment for all of our participants is absolutely paramount to us," Perkins told Nine.

"Unfortunately, social media posts don't constitute any actionable claim for us, we actually need to sit down and talk to people about this," he said.

"We would love to do that and we'd like Maddy to come and speak with us if she feels that she can."

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