British Olympians have rejected a “pointless” offer to meet the Swim England Chair who is one of three governors they called on to resign in a letter last month focussed on three recent, damning reports into the association.

In their letter the Olympians expressed full confidence in the current CEO, Andy Salmon, but called for the resignation from governance positions of Chairman Richard Hookway, board safeguarding champion Neil Booth, and former Senior Independent Director Caroline Green, who still sits on the Aquatics GB board. 

Olympians Call For Board Resignations In Swim England Reform Process

An open letter from more than 20 Great Britain Olympians has called for key former and current members of the Swim England’s board to resign from their swimming governance positions in order to build stakeholder trust in the running of the sport

State Of Swimming +Craig Lord

State of Swimming understands that the three have not resigned, while a source said that they “had not been asked to do so” at an extraordinary Board meeting held to discuss the Olympians letter. 

When Swim England responded officially to SOS’s request for comment after it drew the board’s attention to the Olympians’ concerns, it noted in a statement:  

“We take the views expressed in the letter from the Olympians seriously. When people within our community take the time to share their perspectives, we want them to know they will be listened toWe're concerned that these individuals feel they need to remain anonymous to Swim England, but we absolutely respect their position.

We have invited the group, or some of its representatives, to meet with us so that we better understand their views, and we hope that invitation will be accepted.   

Swim England, including the Swim England Board, has undergone significant changes in recent years, with our stakeholders telling us that we’re making genuine progress, but we equally recognise how much more there is to do.”   

None of the Olympians has accepted a specific invitation to meet the Chairman that was transmitted through this author. Many replied to reiterate their strong fear of disclosing their identity, as well as suggesting that a meeting is pointless and will change nothing when the letter itself makes their position clear. In the words of one:

“Resignations will improve trust. And those associated with past failures are hardly likely to be the best future leaders. Those two simple messages are crystal clear in our letter. There’s no need for the board to meet us to be able to understand our views.  It is pointless for the Chair to offer us a meeting.

"If the Chair or others finally have something meaningful to say to us about why they refuse to resign, surely they can say it in public to all stakeholders? That way everyone who feels as we do will be able to see why they still believe that they are the best option for our sport.” 

As some also pointed out, it is not just about whether this group of athletes trust their governors, but about the very widespread lack of trust revealed in the Listening Report, for which they believe that only a change of personnel can provide an effective solution.

Concerns Over Apparent Current-Board Backing Of Status Quo

Since SOS revealed the concerns of the Olympians,  more swimming stakeholders, including other GB internationals, holders of key roles in the sport, and representatives of groups of stakeholders in both Britain and England, have been in touch to express their strong support for the call for resignations. 

They believe that accepting responsibility for what went wrong, and allowing the sport to move on under new management, would be a way for Swim England to show that it had understood why trust cannot be built if those in charge of reform are the same people who either oversaw the organisation in the periods covered by the three damning reports, and/or defended those responsible. 

If anything, the situation is now all the more concerning because it would appear that recent arrivals on the board have chosen to support the status quo over joining Olympians in their call for a new start. 

Like most of the Olympians, others who contacted SOS did not generally want to be identified for fear of repercussions. One willing to be named, however, is Professor Sue Arrowsmith, Professor Emerita of the University of Nottingham. The professor, an honorary KC, governance specialist and Masters swimmer, has worked on sport governance with the OECD and United Nations, among others.

She has battled for nearly a decade to improve aquatics governance, lobbying successfully for reform and helping numerous stakeholders with successful complaints and legal processes.

She summed up many of the sentiments expressed to SOS when she commented: 

“Swim England has a fantastic CEO in Andy Salmon. There is a real chance to turn the culture around and create an organisation that is trusted and admired. But the work he is doing to build trust is surely going to be undermined if those at the very top of the sport don’t inspire the same trust.”

“The Listening Report mentioned concerns that those responsible for the problems were themselves overseeing reforms. To me that remains a major problem. But most disappointing of all is that by continuing to support its fellow members from the “old guard” the current board sends out a depressing message about the board as a whole.

"I think many of us hoped that with some recent membership changes the board would take a different approach. The fact that it hasn’t will surely just perpetuate the lack of trust in the board and the concerns in the Listening report about protecting those with power and influence. It’s all very dispiriting for the future of the sport.” 

Change “drastically needed” 

Another leading figure in aquatics who did not wish to be named commented: 

“I hear the views of participants from all areas of the sport and have never known such a level of dissatisfaction with the National Governing Body…… A change in Board management is what is drastically needed to restore confidence.” 

Some of those who approached SOS also say that, in the absence of any meaningful response to the Olympians letter, they intend now to take up complaints and actions over board leadership elsewhere. 

SOS will continue to report on any developments.