Girl (13) was slapped by Gibney and called a whore when she accused him of abusing her

George Gibney slapped a 13year-old swimmer across the face and called her a whore when she confronted him about having abused her, the Murphy inquiry was told.

In a chapter dealing with allegations against Gibney, the report said that one witness told how in 1975 when she was 13, she had spent a month with the coach when her parents were on holiday. Gibney - who is referred to in the report as "the first-named coach" - slept with her and abused her, she told the inquiry. She confided in a school friend who encouraged her to speak to a priest, who in turn advised her to confront the abuser and ask him to stop.

"When she did, she said that the coach slapped her across the face, called her a whore and told her to stay away from boys. The coach then ignored her but she said later forced her to perform oral sex with him. Abuse continued and the witness believed that the coach had intercourse with her in 1977 when she was 15."

The report tells how Gibney became the dominant figure in the swimming club he founded in 1976, which operated from a Dublin school.

"Such was this dominance, and it needs to be said, the trust and confidence which swimmers and parents, the management company and the school had in the coach, that no control mechanism was thought necessary."

When he was appointed coach to the Irish squad at the Seoul Olympics in 1988, Gibney seemed to dominate Irish swimming. Several swimmers gave evidence to the inquiry that while Gibney was coach to his club, foreign trips were largely unsupervised. "Several swimmers alleged that they were locked into their rooms at night by the first-named coach . . .

"It is clear from the evidence of swimmers on different trips, one to Australia and the other to America, that they were indeed trapped in their rooms by their coach and were conditioned by him not to protest."

The evidence of the swimmers was that the earliest alleged abuse and assaults had occurred in 1967 in respect of a young male swimmer then aged 11 and in 1968 in respect of a female, also aged 11.

The report said there was no evidence of any written complaint having been made to Gibney's club before he left in early 1993. However, between December 1990 and January 1991, six senior swimmers discontinued training with him and left the club; some left swimming altogether. "However, no questions were asked as to why they had discontinued their training with the coach or why they had left the club."

Dealing with how the authorities had reacted to allegations against Gibney, the report said one swimmer gave evidence that in January 1991, following the world swimming championships in Perth, he told the honorary medical officer of both the IASA and the Leinster Branch that he had been abused by the coach.

"He says it was the officer's advice that it would be the complainant's word against that of the first coach and that he should `get on with it'. "

The officer, who was not aware of any other allegation of abuse until November 1994, told the inquiry that at the time there existed a doctor-patient relationship, that the conversation had in fact taken place before going to Perth; that the complainant was confused and emotionally unstable as a result of a head injury and had not wanted the officer to report the matter.

The complainant had further alleged in evidence that he told the then president of the Leinster Branch about the abuse in February 1991. An assistant female coach in whom the complainant had confided said she also told the president of the Leinster Branch at about this time.

"According to her, the president replied that he hoped the matter would not break while he was president."

The Leinster Branch, in its submission, said the president did not bring the complaint to the attention of the secretary or any other member. The president, who was subsequently convicted in August 1996 in respect of unrelated matters, had written to the inquiry repudiating any allegation that he sought to or impeded the forwarding of any complaints about Gibney's behaviour.

In March 1991, the complainant said he told the national development officer of the IASA about the abuse. This officer said in evidence he believed nothing specific was said at the time.

The president of the IASA in 1992 had been told late the previous year by a senior swimmer of complaints that Gibney was in serious trouble for molesting young children. The swimmer requested that the president organise a meeting at which gardai would be present. The president took legal advice but no meeting was held.

A Garda inquiry was subsequently launched in 1992, but Gibney succeeded in a 1994 judicial review in having the charges against him dropped because of the delay since the offences were alleged to have occurred. Even as late as April 1995, he attended a swimming gala and a children's coaching session at two clubs affiliated to the Ulster Branch of the IASA at the invitation of a former officer of the IASA.

On another occasion, in December 1992, when Gibney was asked by Leinster Branch officers not to attend a coaching session scheduled for juvenile swimmers, after the Garda investigation had begun, the coach refused to stand aside and threatened legal action.

The event went ahead with Gibney's involvement but with a sufficient number of parents and officials to supervise it.