What happened to Madeline Groves? Australian swimmer withdraws from Tokyo Olympics

2016 Olympics silver medalist Madeline Groves has withdrawn herself from the Tokyo Olympics this year since she feels unsafe because of "misogynistic perverts". Groves won a silver medal in both the 200m butterfly singles event and the 4×100m medley event at the Rio Olympics in 2016. So, what happened to Madeline Groves prior to the Summer Olympics 2020 this year?

What happened to Madeline Groves? Madeline Groves swimmer feels unsafe ahead of Tokyo Olympics 2020 because of "misogynistic perverts"

Madeline Groves made allegations of "misogynistic perverts" in the sport compelling her to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics. In late November last year, Groves made allegations that a person working with her made her feel "uncomfortable" by the way they looked at her in her swimming suit. She further alleged she was body-shamed and told that she did not "deserve more help" following two surgeries. Kieren Perkins, the president of Swimming Australia, was alarmed by Groves' allegations last year and had contacted her immediately to address her concerns, but has yet not had any direct conversation with her.

"We have reached out to her in December 2020 to engage with her on these concerns. Unfortunately at this point, we haven’t been able to have a direct conversation with her to understand what her concerns are, who the people involved are, so we can investigate and deal with it. We encourage her to do that because this is one of the most significant issues and challenges that we have in all sports to ensure that our athletes are supported and protected in their environment," said Perkins.

Madeline Groves Instagram posts: Groves makes direct allegations against "perverts"

Madeline Groves did not hesitate to lash out against people she believed are "perverts" as she posted three different messages on her official Instagram handle. On Wednesday, Groves announced on social media that she had withdrawn from the Summer Olympics 2020 swimming trials, putting an end to her hopes of representing Australia at a second Games. In two other messages posted on Thursday, she made allegations about her treatment by an undisclosed individual involved in the sport. Both the Madeline Groves Instagram posts can be seen below.

Kieren Perkins admits Madeline Groves swimmer is not the first to raise concerns about the sport

Kieren Perkins has admitted that there have been issues involved in swimming over the years but was confident of the processes and frameworks in place for complaints to be dealt with. "Swimming was one of the sports mentioned in the royal commission into institutional abuse. And we absolutely have done a mountain of work over recent years to tighten up sports policy frameworks, make sure we have the right processes for whistleblower investigations, and ensure that any police matters are dealt with as they need to be," said Perkins. Fans all across the world will hope that this issue is dealt with at the earliest as there is a consensus that there is no room for such disgraceful acts.