Champion Olympic swimmer Shane Gould says Swimming Australia either fails to understand the problem or is running scared on child abuse.
"I know Swimming Australia is struggling, like a lot of youth sport organisations, to get members and keep members," she said. "The sexual abuse cases that have been exposed in swimming clubs and coaching squads are preventing parents from putting their children into the sport.
Other swimmers stay silentSusie O'Neill and Samantha Riley, who both won Olympic gold and were coached by Mr Volkers, have declined to comment. Other former champions approached by the ABC — including Ian Thorpe and former Swimmers' Association head Daniel Kowalski — either did not respond or made no comment.Paul Frost is charged with more than 100 counts of child sex offences against 14 boys and one girl from the 1990s to 2009, while he was a coach at his father Doug Frost's pool in the Sydney suburb of Padstow. Gould said she had previously been"blasted" by SA for speaking out and was not surprised other swimmers had opted not to speak publicly about the issue.Ms Gilbert said she would have liked the option of taking her case to the National Redress Scheme. "Having the organisation believe you — that is the most powerful thing to help you in recovery," she said.
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