In a report by Paul Newberry, of AP, on the ripples rolling through the sport - and tangible at the Charlotte UltraSwim - in the wake of sex abuse claims for compensation in the US by swimmers against coaches that either abused them or are alleged to have abused them and law suits that have ensued, Aaron Peirsol, backstroke ace of the decade past, said: "When that came out, it was shocking to all of us. My experience in the sport has been nothing but spectacular. To know that has gone on is absolutely terrible. I hope it's isolated." 

At least four lawsuits have been filed around the country, an Olympic champion from the 1970s claims she was molested by a Hall of Fame coach, and at least 36 coaches have been banned for life over the past decade because of sexual misconduct, Newberry reports. "It definitely is bad for the image of the sport," Rebecca Soni told him. 

Michael Phelps weighed in with an echo of what Peirsol hinted at - that for the most part, the swimming experience has been a good one, and that the relationships formed have been positive: "Swimming has been such an important part of my life. I've been able to meet some of the most important and influential people ever in my life. I'm thankful to have this sport and have these people as a part of my life."

Adding to that, Natalie Coughlin said: "I'm not worried about the overall image of the sport. I'm glad some of this stuff has come out because it opens up communication between parents and their kids and the coaches. It's not rampant. It's not like we're harbouring predators or anything like that."

Phelps' coach, Bob Bowman, urged vigilance all round, saying: "If there's anything to come out of this which will help us going forward, maybe now all of us will be more diligent. This is a reminder that we still have to really watch what we're doing and particularly who we're hiring."

However, Bowman believed that hard and fast rules of the kind advocated by some in the debate about USA Swimming's response may not be appropriate or workable. "I don't know that you can have a hard-and-fast rule to meet every circumstance," said Bowman. "If Michael and I want to sit down and have a one-on-one conversation, I'm not sure that's out of bounds. But if it's one of my 8-year-olds, maybe that's a different story."

David Marsh, the director of coaching at SwimMAC Carolina, is making moves to establish formality among coaches and swimmers. "A lot of the swimmers call us coaches by our first name," Marsh told Newberry. "We're going to implement a program where we ask the swimmers and parents to call us 'Coach Such and Such' or 'Mr. Such and Such.' That will separate some of the casualness."

Backstroke ace Matt Grevers noted: "I think it's different than a teacher and student," he said. "People in sports really love what they're doing. They're passionate about it. Obviously, there are passionate students. But in sports, everyone is passionate because they choose to be there. It's really sad to know that some people might abuse that kind of power and status."

Garrett Weber-Gale added: "My parents never left my sister and I at the pool by ourselves with the coach. You don't really know who these coaches are, and you're going to leave your kids there alone for two of three hours? They're just kids. Anything could be going on."