Katya Richardson was a promising national junior swimmer with her sights set on the Olympic trials.
"I started competing [when] I was about 10 years old and I just fell in love with the sport," she said.
"It's provided me with so many opportunities and privileges and I'm very grateful to be a part of the sport".
But the 19-year-old says she quit competitive swimming because of the alleged behaviour of her coach and what she says is a culture of "toxic masculinity" at her former club in Victoria.
"There were instances where the boys would spray their water bottles in my face when I was walking down the corridor," Ms Richardson told the ABC.
"I wasn't allowed to take toilet breaks because the boys made it seem as if it was their duty to tell me when I wasn't allowed to go to the toilet."
She said she was often looked "up and down" and was yelled at for not getting in the pool when she was having anxiety attacks.
Ms Richardson's mother suggested she raise her concerns with her new coach at the Nunawading Swimming Club, Nick Veliades.
"I said to him that I don't feel safe. The boys are taking it upon themselves to pick me up on things," Ms Richardson said.
"And all he did was raise his hand and put it in front of my face and told me to stop talking and said to me that I need to reflect on … how my actions are causing the boys to behave in this way.
"He didn't let me explain myself and … every time I tried to speak up, he would continue to hold his hand in my face and wouldn't let me talk.
"I left shaking. I got in the car and I had a panic attack."
In a statement, Mr Veliades said he raised his hand to stop the conversation after it had gone on for 20 minutes and was becoming repetitive and unproductive.
He said the boys were upset with Katya because she was often late for training and "social" to the point of distraction.
Ms Richardson alleges Mr Veliades made offensive comments to junior swimmers at the pool.
"I witnessed misogynistic comments, such as him telling a boy to remove a tampon out of his arse at a competition because the boy was deemed to be swimming like a girl," she said.
"He also said to a group of swimmers from the same ethnicity that they all look the same with their cap and goggles on. And when their cap and goggles are off.
"There were comments such as boys are natural leaders [while] girls [are] essentially followers, and that girls are not fit to lead the lane, whereas boys will naturally fall into that position. So as a female, I never felt confident in leading a session.
"And that's not how it should feel. And the boys fed on that. Essentially, they knew that the coach supported that toxic masculinity and he supported the inequality in treatment of the genders."
Mr Veliades admitted making an inappropriate comment about a tampon, for which he had apologised.
He recalled saying "because the boys in the group are faster, they naturally lead the lanes".
But he said the racist comment was made by a boy in the squad of Asian background, not him.
Ms Richardson alleges that when she complained, Mr Veliades told her that she was not meeting squad expectations.
She made a formal, written complaint to the club in March last year, alleging Mr Veliades had bullied, harassed and victimised her.
A month later, Katya suffered a panic attack on the pool deck at the Australian swimming championships on the Gold Coast.
"During that period, when I was in on the Gold Coast, I was neglected.
"And one session, I just couldn't take it anymore. I came in in the morning, and he had said hello to me in a very arrogant manner. And I went to the competition pool to warm up and I just couldn't breathe.
"I started shaking. I, in some ways, had an out of body experience. I didn't know what was going on.
"And when I returned to the pool deck, I completely lost it. I lost feeling in my legs, in my arms. I had a tingling sensation. I lost any sort of self-control. And I started crying. And he just watched me from a distance and a team manager had approached me and they asked me what was wrong. And I said, 'He's been bullying me for months. He's made me feel like this, has made me feel invalid. And everyone's just watched it happen'."
Club found coach's behaviour 'reasonable in the context of the coach/athlete relationship'
After a three-week internal investigation, the club wrote to Ms Richardson to advise that it had found "insufficient evidence" to support her claims of bullying, harassment and victimisation.
Documents show Mr Veliades received "a written warning and further behavioural (HR) training regarding appropriate workplace behaviours".
The club offered Ms Richardson two paid counselling sessions. She appealed the club's decision but her appeal was dismissed.
In a letter, the club said the incidents did not meet the definition of bullying or harassment.
"Instead, comments to you about your future swimming performance, your attendance at training or other matters related to your swimming can be considered to be reasonable in the context of the coach/athlete relationship."
Ms Richardson said she left the club after the national championships because she was told she would need to remove herself from that environment.
"[They told me] they were not going to remove the coach, that I needed to swim with the squad below or continue to swim with the squad that he was coaching but he wasn't allowed to communicate with me," Ms Richardson said.
"And that's not right. I shouldn't be told to remove myself from an environment that I feel unsafe in".
In a statement to the ABC, Nunawading Swimming Club said it was "absolutely confident that the investigations, process and appeals were fair and robust".
General manager Nicole Webster said the club interviewed nine witnesses who did not substantiate Ms Richardson's allegations of bullying, harassment and victimisation.
"However, the investigation substantiated two instances of inappropriate comments made by the staff member to other club members and the club took appropriate disciplinary action in response to these matters," she said.
"The Nunawading Swimming Club treats all allegations about any wrongdoing by any club member or its employees extremely seriously and its number one priority is the health and wellbeing of all athletes and employees".
Coach denies bullying, harassment and victimisation claims
Mr Veliades said: "I absolutely deny that I bully, harass or victimise any swimmers, including Ms Richardson. My conduct has been subject to four separate investigations and reviews which did not substantiate this allegation."
"It is my responsibility to deliver challenging news to swimmers that they sometimes don't want to hear, such as when their performance times do not meet their personal expectations or the required qualifying times.
"I try to deliver this difficult news with empathy but I acknowledge that it can be a challenging time for the swimmers involved and my comments may not always be received in the way I intended.
"Like the swimmers I coach, I am also striving for continual improvement, to be the best coach I can be. Like everyone I make mistakes sometimes and this process has been a constructive learning experience. I have fully embraced the professional development provided by the club."
Mr Veliades rejected the suggestion that he fostered a culture of toxic masculinity at the club.
"I care equally for all of my athletes, regardless of their gender, aiming to foster a positive culture of growth and development," he said.
Groves 'really glad' she made a stand against misogyny in swimming
A few months ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games, serious questions were raised about misogyny and abuse in the sport.
Leading the campaign for change was Olympic silver medallist Maddie Groves.
"I've really been witness to all the people that have tried to do something about the issues in swimming in Australia throughout my entire career," Ms Groves told the ABC.
"And a lot of the time, it seemed to fall on deaf ears."
She tweeted:
"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".
"I was just left so frustrated," Ms Groves said.
"From trying to resolve the situation, just feeling like that was never going to happen and that there wasn't really any other option for me than to do something like give up on my dreams of trying to make a second Olympic team and make a very public statement".
The explosive tweet made international headlines and Swimming Australia appointed an all-female independent panel to examine her claims.
The panel received 150 submissions from swimmers, coaches and officials. The details of their allegations have been kept confidential, but Swimming Australia last month released the panel's 46 recommendations with an unconditional apology to those affected.
"It's been a huge journey since I made that tweet. I'm really glad that I did it," Ms Groves said.
"I was really hoping that it would have some impact like this. And it's turned out quite well. I'm very happy that these recommendations have been made.
Among the panel's key recommendations are:
- Quotas for female coaches
- Ending the use of skinfold tests to assess body composition
- Banning the word "physique" to avoid body shaming
- Putting a coach's behavioural standards ahead of performance standards
- Never again sending an all-male coaching team to national and international events
"I think the recommendations are good. Whether they address the sort of core reasoning behind this toxic culture that's been uncovered, I'm not sure," Ms Groves said.
"I think people would like to know the timeline of what is going to happen. And when we can expect to start seeing some results."
Scepticism about sport's ability to reform itself
Lawyer Adair Donaldson is representing a group of swimmers and coaches with complaints against swimming authorities, including Katya Richardson.
Mr Donaldson is sceptical that this latest review will lead to meaningful change.
"Swimming Australia has a culture of fear and shame and 'win at all costs', where nepotism is alive and well and where whistleblowers are gaslit and ostracised. That's their history," he said.
"The types of complaints that are common are complaints in relation to body-shaming practices, complaints in relation to athletes [who] have eating disorders which go unaddressed, complaints in relation to mental health issues that go unaddressed.
Mr Donaldson said it was positive that the findings of the independent panel were released.
"But those findings and those recommendations should not have come as a surprise to anybody," he said.
"Unfortunately, for somebody that specialises in assisting survivors of abuse, it was groundhog day."
Mr Donaldson said there had been multiple reviews into the culture of swimming, dating back to Australia's poor performance at the London Olympics in 2012.
"Whilst I am encouraged that there is now a new CEO and there's some incredibly qualified people that have put up their hand to help Swimming Australia make a difference, I am actually, like many people, quite sceptical that they will be able to address the significant issues because the same people that were involved in the sport back in 2012 are the same people involved in the sport now," Mr Donaldson said.
Mr Donaldson is concerned that some coaches who were the subject of past complaints might still hold senior positions in swimming.
"Swimming Australia should come out publicly and say that there are no current coaches in the sport that have had previous complaints made against them in relation to inappropriate behaviours," he said.
"If that's what the position is, then come out publicly and say that, but if it's not the position, then why are those people still involved in the sport?"
Concerns have also been raised about the steering committee set up to implement the panel's reforms.
One of its members is Swimming Victoria chief executive Jason Hellwig. Mr Hellwig has confirmed that he met with Ms Richardson and after hearing her story, told her that he believed her.
"I was told by Jason Hellwig that he believed me, that my story was valid and that my voice was valid. And for the first time, I felt happy, because I was being believed and I wasn't being dismissed," Ms Richardson said.
"However, the next meeting I had, it was with Swimming Victoria and the club's board member and the CEO. And Jason just sat there. He didn't say anything. He didn't speak up. He just sat there and he observed and it was just a conversation between myself and the club.
"And I left that meeting unsatisfied. I once again was dismissed. The club continued to stand by what they had said to me, that the coach had done nothing wrong and that it was my inability to accept the high-performance environment.
"And after that, I wasn't okay, mentally, or physically for a really long time."
Ms Richardson did not make a submission to the independent panel appointed by Swimming Australia, because of her disappointing experience with Swimming Victoria.
Mr Hellwig declined to do an interview.
Swimming Victoria said Mr Hellwig had told Ms Richardson that appropriate steps would be taken to ensure her concerns were addressed.
Swimming Victoria president Susan Smith said Mr Hellwig told Ms Richardson that she had been heard and "he believed she had provided a true representation of her experience".
He assured Ms Richardson that appropriate steps would be taken in accordance with the Safe Sport Framework to ensure that her concerns were addressed.
"Following that meeting, Swimming Victoria agreed a set of action items on the mutual understanding that the role of Mr Hellwig and Swimming Victoria was not to re-investigate Ms Richardson's original complaint, but to:
- ensure the swimming club in question had dealt with Ms Richardson's complaints and appeals appropriately, and
- to determine whether any additional steps should be taken, including with respect to workplace behaviour, culture and practices
"The results of this review confirmed that all procedures were correctly followed throughout an exhaustive process of investigation, independent review and internal club assessment. Swimming Victoria is therefore confident that the matter has been handled in a fair, comprehensive and transparent way and that all appropriate actions have been implemented.
"Swimming Victoria takes all allegations of misconduct or inappropriate behaviour extremely seriously and is committed to investigating all such complaints through a comprehensive and robust process. The health and wellbeing of all those involved in swimming in Victoria remains our absolute priority."
Mr Donaldson says Swimming Australia should release the independent panel's full report, with names redacted to protect the privacy of those who made submissions.
The panel itself recommended that Swimming Australia "strongly consider publicly releasing this report in full and with all recommendations as soon as practical".
"It's been public funds that have actually paid for the production of the report," Mr Donaldson said.
"So why shouldn't the general public understand what is going on within our highest-profile, publicly funded sport?".
Maddie Groves agrees.
"I think the report should be released because the people that spoke to the panel can be de-identified and I think people in the community would like to know who is responsible for the behaviour that's led to some of these recommendations being made," she said.
"It would be concerning if people that were … implicated in the report are still employed in swimming. I hope that doesn't happen. And I hope that it doesn't take until all these recommendations are implemented for … that necessary change to be made.
In a statement, Swimming Australia stood by its decision not to release the full report.
It did not respond to questions about Katya Richardson's case.
See more on 7.30 tonight.
