Swimming is a healthy, natural and enjoyable sport. Dr Roderick Murphy says so in his report and I agree with him. In fact I agree with him on almost everything he says in his report. His recommendations are of sound base, intelligent, practical and would certainly work, if implemented.

In his 161-page document he deals with the two cases of abuse separately. Being closely involved with the first case (Gibney), I hadn't realised the shocking parallels with the second (O'Rourke).

Quite evident from both cases is the ineptitude of people in power in swimming during both cases. In the first case, the Leinster Branch of the IASA proceeded to run a swimming clinic in January 1993, with Gibney as the coach in attendance, despite the fact he was being investigated for child sexual abuse.

In the second case, in April 1994, O'Rourke was requested to attend a coaches' clinic, again run by the Leinster Branch, while he was being investigated for child sexual abuse. Worse still in the case of O'Rourke, he was actually banned from being on the poolside by the very school in which the course was run.

While both courses were run 15 months apart, they demonstrate how little was learnt by the swimming authorities in the intervening period. It seems experience was no teacher and no lessons were learnt. Their actions also sent a consistent message to the victims of any abuse, the message of doubt.

The Murphy report cites the standard reply of the swimming authorities during this period: "The IASA cannot act on mere rumour and innuendo and the person concerned has a basic right to his good name and reputation unless and until a first-hand complaint is made in the first instance and thereafter justified".

But it seems not only were the accused paedophiles deserving of their good name, they actually gained assistance from the authorities.

In the case of Gibney, it was the offer by an IASA official to run swimming clinics in Northern Ireland after he had been freed by the Republic's court system.

In the case of O'Rourke it was the creation of the post of development director in his swimming club to circumvent the fact he was banned from attending swimming sessions on the poolside.

The report has angered many people who saw the Murphy report as recompense for perceived wrongdoings. Their anger stems from the fact that it does not name those officials that choose to do nothing in spite of being aware of the circumstances. But it has to be remembered this was not the remit of the report.

This report is for future swimmers and future officials. Perhaps having seen this report, the Garda and/or the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions will decide further action is warranted.

Personally, I recognise several areas that need to be expanded upon and would certainly have been more adequately addressed had Dr Murphy had the powers of a full judicial inquiry. The report certainly contains some areas that in my view warrant criminal charges.

The majority of recommendations contained within the report cannot be argued with. His most pertinent recommendations are that the swimming association needs to relate to the overall development and welfare of young people through swimming, and only secondarily with optimisation of performance.

In many ways the swimming association has escaped lightly from this report. There is a veiled reference to its failing to act on rumour and innuendo. And, by detailing the steps taken by one school, the relative inactivity of the swimming authorities is highlighted. So while the ineptitude of swimming officials is not spelled out by Dr Murphy in his conclusions, one cannot fail to arrive at this conclusion having read the report.

His recommendation therefore that the association be afforded in- creased funding to implement his recommendations, being already 87 per cent publicly funded, is the only recommendation that I strongly disagree with. I have grave concern about more money being given to an association that has failed to admit its mistakes of the past and demonstrated little in the way of initiative on the subject of child sex abuse. The association should be forced to implement all recommendations without any Government funding. The association has to be more self-financing, responsible and independent. It has, after all, benefited from huge public funding in the past, only to betray government trust by employing two paedophiles.

Let it demonstrate change first, then further funding. The rehabilitative changes to date are the least that one would have expected. Implementing the Code of Ethics and Good Practice for Children's Sport in Ireland and a Code of Conduct are to be welcomed, but victims still go without the offer of counselling and support.

Finally, I am surprised that Dr Murphy does not recommend that the officers of the swimming association be replaced en masse by a new staff of appointed government officers. This new staff should run the association for an interim period and then slowly reintegrate newly elected officers into the association. While the administrative framework is there, I'd have little confidence in any people currently in office doing justice to Dr Roderick Murphy's work.

Gary O'Toole, a double Olympian, won a silver medal for Ireland in the 1989 European Swimming Championships