ALMOST 14 years ago this newspaper was brave enough to publish the graphic details of child sex abuse perpetrated on young girls and boys by a then much-respected and revered member of Irish society.

The environment was very different then and the paper was risking everything in pursuit of the truth.

Instead of emergency procedures being activated and victims being protected, officialdom in swimming ignored the accusers and refused to act. As a consequence of their inertia untold hurt was caused and as evidenced by reactions last week the hurt continues to this day.

The events of the last week again bring swimming into sharp focus.

For many unfamiliar with the sport they must find it hard to believe that a sport was so unlucky as to have two successive Olympic coaches who were paedophiles. But as it later emerged it was even worse. In addition to these two vile individuals, swimming in Ireland also counted amongst its officials a murderer and a third swimming coach presently under investigation for crimes against children. Any person of reasonable intelligence would have to question how could so much evil accumulate in one sport at the one time?

A clue to how it happened lies in the swimming association's reactions when first officially informed about the abuse. It became official when a victim, another victim's husband and myself met with officers of the Leinster Branch of the Irish Amateur Swimming Association and told them in no uncertain terms what was going on. We made one request at that meeting. In our opinion it was a simple request and would have been interpreted as a gesture of trust and belief. We requested that a swimming course being held in Dublin for underage children be cancelled. We suggested they might cancel it citing lack of interest as the 'official' reason. The course was to be hosted by the very person we were accusing of being a paedophile. The course went ahead.

I also requested in writing an official meeting with the full executive of the Irish Amateur Swimming Association. This was requested out of my mistrust of them. I fully understood the temptation that such horrific accusations might be 'buried' by the Leinster Branch.

The Irish Amateur Swimming Association initially agreed to meet me and a meeting was scheduled for three days later. Then, once rumours started to emerge about the subject I wanted to discuss, they sought legal advice and the meeting was cancelled.

The lines were clearly drawn and official swimming turned its back on the victims. This attitude persists to this day. No apology to the victims has ever emerged.

From a personal point of view, I was not one of the victims. The period after the Barcelona Olympics in August 1992 and before my return to university in October 1992 was when I approached several people who I believed may have been abused. Some were not ready to talk but others did.

Unfortunately, the legal system allowed Ireland's first swimming paedophile coach to escape. The second coach wasn't so fortunate, even though he tried to avail of the same legal loophole. I've no doubt his prosecution came about because his victims learnt of and took strength from the earlier case. He's now out. Once again he's a member of society. I understand that 29 years becomes nine in a legal system such as ours. I understand it but don't agree with it.

With his release the Swimming Association has once again proved itself to be reactionary rather than proactive when dealing with such sensitive matters. I have had no official dealings with swimming for 13 years apart from a phone message on Thursday morning on foot of a radio interview I did. I presume it was their attempt to justify their intransigence. I don't know what contingencies they now have in place and it would be unfair of me to be overly critical of a system I have not been briefed on. But as a lay person simply observing, it appears to me that little apart from the name of the association has changed in the intervening 15 years. The pain for the victims is as raw now as it was then.

People often ask me if I still swim.

I hated it for a while and stopped completely for two years. Swimming lurched from one scandal to another. If it wasn't paedophilia it was drugs and I was tired of being asked my opinion. My hatred was temporary though, and I now swim as often as I can. I named one of my daughters after an Australian swimmer.

In essence, swimming is a good sport and a healthy pursuit but it has been so damaging and traumatic for so many simply because they were ignored by those they should have been able to trust. Last week once again highlighted their pain and makes me very sad.

I recently received two beautiful 'Baby Speedo' swimming costumes for my daughters. They were bought by a victim and her mother.

Therein lies a difficult choice for the future.

Dr Gary O'Toole swam for Ireland at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics.

He won a silver medal at the European Championships in 1989