Cate Campbell is a swimming champion and has stated that the sport is obsessed with female weight. She said pool players were ordered to have smaller plates, then publicly shamed for losing only a few hundredg.
In her book Sister Secrets, Life Lessons from The Pool to the Podium: Four-time Olympic gold medallist talked about the focus of the sport on being skinny.
She claimed that female swimming competitors for Australia in the first Olympics in Beijing were required to undergo weekly weigh-ins.
Cate Campbell, 29 years old claims Australia’s female pool star women were ordered to have smaller plates. She was also publicly shamed for only gaining a few hundredgs in a new book
“On my first Olympic team, 2008, all of the girls were told that they should use smaller plates at dinner to avoid overeating,” she stated in an extract taken from The Sunday Telegraph.
Other swimmers were required to weigh in weekly in front of the entire team. If they gained more than 100 grams, they were publicly shamed.
“The consensus among most male coaches was that the more skin you have, the better. Some of the attitudes started to influence me.
This claim comes five months after Dr Jenny McMahon, a Commonwealth Games gold medallist, raised questions about the “toxic and dysfunctional” culture that prevailed at the elite sport’s level.
A swimmer claims she was anorexic after having been body-shamed and coached by Olympic coaches.
Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Swimming Australia to provide comment.
Campbell in turn told last month how she held off getting medical help for her DepressionAs she was training for the Tokyo Games.
Campbell (right), who last month shared her struggles with depression via an Instagram candid post
Campbell’s claims (pictured), come just five month after Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Dr Jenny McMahon opened the door to the dysfunctional and toxic culture at sport’s elite levels.
She opened up to her diagnosis of depression last year at the age 29 and revealed that she reached out to professional help only four weeks before her fourth Olympics.
Campbell shared her thoughts on the story via Instagram. She hoped that it would inspire more discussions about mental health issues.
‘In July 2020 I was diagnosed with depression, in June 2021 — four weeks before the start of the Tokyo Olympics, I finally admitted I needed some medical help, and I am so grateful I did,’ she wrote.
“Mental Health is not an indicator of weakness. It doesn’t discriminate. It is very real. Most of us will have to face it in some time.
Ms. Campbell has eight Olympic gold medals and said that she would have sought help sooner if there had been more conversations about mental illness.
Campbell (pictured), claims that the Australian Olympic swimming team’s female competitors at Beijing’s first Olympics were subjected to weekly weigh-ins. They were then ‘publicly warned’ about minor weight gains.
She continued, “So I am sharing mine in the hope it will stimulate a discussion in your household and dispel a stigma or encourage you be kinder to those around you.”
“I struggle to feel no shame about my mental health. Please be kind.”
Campbell elaborated on her experience in an intimate first-person essay published to Mamamia that detailed her struggles and inner demons.
“It felt like my brain was being sucked in by a vortex. Neon words flashed in front of my eyes while I was in the dark, inky well. You’re weak, they told me. “You ought to be able get past this.” ‘You’re pathetic’. You’re more than that. “Your life is wonderful.” What’s the problem with you? She wrote:
It was unbearable and deep. On a scale I had not experienced previously — and one which I would have scorned prior to my diagnosis. I was crushed by the weight.
Campbell stated that she was diagnosed with depression less than four weeks prior to the Tokyo Games.
The swimming star eventually began to see a psychologist, but continued struggling with confidence as he trained for the Tokyo Games.
She described feeling paralysed and fearful upon reaching the Olympic trials, but she was able to keep her spot.
Overcome with fear and emotion in lead up to Japan, Campbell decided to seek help from a GP and began taking medication to treat her anxiety and depression.
The swimmer admitted she was initially tempted to take medication, but after noticing positive changes, began to think more clearly.
Campbell won gold later in the 4×100 freestyle relay and the 4×100 medley relay teams at the Tokyo Olympics.
She also won an individual bronze medal for her outstanding performance in the 100m freestyle.