Swimming Australia (SA) has announced an all-female panel will conduct a probe into the ‘experience and advancement’ of women and girls in the sport.
In a statement released on Saturday, SA did not mention Maddie Groves by name after the 2016 silver medallist sensationally withdrew from this week’s Olympic trials.
The 26-year-old declared she was tired of dealing with ‘misogynistic perverts’ and wanted to highlight alleged issues facing women and girls in the sport.
SA claimed new CEO Alex Baumann had already begun a review of the organisation and said its Ethics and Integrity Committee would examine the ‘issues raised this week’.
In a further effort to control the damage caused by Groves’ explosive claims, SA will not appoint any male members to a newly formed panel charged with investigating the matter.
“This is a crucial week ahead of us, we know though these issues are too important to ignore. They need to be addressed here and now,” the statement read.
“We are committed to keeping our people safe and well.
“We have taken the following steps to further our work - and have instigated these steps this morning.
“We will prioritise our current work across our integrity program. We will work with an independent female panel to investigate ongoing issues related to women and girls' experience and advancement in our sport. Their focus will be on our future.
“Our board director Tracy Stockwell will help establish this process. She has significant personal elite athlete experience and organisational experience with Swimming Australia.”
