[Archive 2006-01-06] Bill Sweetenham cleared of bullying allegations

Historical archive — originally published 2006-01-06. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

Australian coach Bill Sweetenham has been cleared by an independent inquiry of bullying allegations made last year by former British table tennis player Matthew Syed. Syed had accused Sweetenham of damaging British swimming and causing the retirement of 13 senior British swimmers.

Sweetenham has been the performance director for British swimming since November 2000, when he took over from Deryk Snelling. His contract, which was recently renewed, runs up till the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.

Syed's claims had been denied by Sweetenham, British Swimming and many of the swimmers involved. Despite this and the result of the inquiry some of the swimmers maintain that the inquiry was not thorough enough.

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