Last night, a BBC article was released on the toxic culture of fear in swimming. Having only recently stepped away from swimming myself, I am both happy that we are finally talking about this, but not sure that an apology is enough to give back what has already been taken from so many swimmers.
This article and the truth emerging makes me happy, it gives me hope that future generations of young athletes won’t have to deal with what my generation of swimmers went through. On the other hand, I’m filled with a sadness and… regret? If I and other swimmers who experienced the same thing had spoken out earlier, if we had a safe space in which we could share the realities of what was happening - could at least some of this behaviour have been prevented?
I’m hopeful that we will now start to see big changes within this sport and many others which hold similar bullying cultures. I hope that we can see changes in which the sport becomes enjoyable again, because at the end of the day whether you are coaching children or adults isn’t that what sport should be about?