Swimming clubs in England can be “toxic environments”, a new report has said.

Extreme competitiveness and power imbalances within clubs can lead to bullying, aggressive coaching styles and a culture of fear, according to independent research by the Behavioural Architects agency.

Those involved in swimming often worry they will be penalised by their coaches for speaking out, the agency’s report also found. They may also fear repercussions from other club members, parents and even the national governing body Swim England itself.

The report also found coaches feel vulnerable to unfair allegations and blame for welfare issues, which can in turn push them away from the sport.

Racism was also identified as an issue in the report, which found swimming could be “inward-looking” and “elitist”.

“Members and parents from diverse cultural backgrounds describe recent and ongoing experiences of not always feeling welcome, from a stereotype that non-white athletes are less able swimmers to racist bullying,” the report said.

“In some cases, this has resulted in young people leaving clubs.”

The report found many of the most problematic issues “flow top-down from Swim England itself”, in particular a belief that high-performance athletes are the focus to the detriment of other members.

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The report makes 21 recommendations in all, which have been welcomed by Swim England chair Richard Hookway.

“We are sorry that the culture within aquatics has fallen short of what we strive for and that this has resulted in negative experiences within our community,” Mr Hookway said.

“As part of this, we take the views expressed about Swim England within the report extremely seriously. We are committed to change.

“We have been working on our Heart of Aquatics plan for 12 months, which aims to improve safeguarding, welfare and the underpinning culture across our sports.

“As part of that plan, we made a firm commitment to commission an independent report to capture an honest and thorough reflection of the prevailing culture.

“I want to reassure everyone that we welcome the recommendations and we will act on the findings, which we fully accept.”

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