Olympic swim coach

He added the ‘‘gossip and innuendo’’ as a result of the allegations ‘‘ being in the public domain’’ resulted in the loss of job opportunities, and book sales, as well as loss of dignity and hurt and humiliation.

Wright stated repeatedly throughout the proceedings that he stood accused of ‘‘facilitating performance abortions’’ for his swimmers and ‘‘ serious sexual assault’’ and crimes that were punishable by up to 14 years in prison. In his witness testimony he said while he had not read the report, he could only conclude it had cleared him of the allegations, or he would ‘‘ quite rightly, not be allowed on a pool deck again’’.

However, Swimming NZ legal counsel Kathryn Dalziel said in her closing submission that no such claims were investigated by Marris, and the inquiry instead related to allegations of ‘‘bullying, harassment and inappropriate coach modelling’’.

The allegations related to Wright’s time coaching at the now defunct West Auckland Aquatics swim club, which was de-registered by Swimming NZ in late 2015 due to on-going governance issues and financial mismanagement.

In a cross-examination by Dalziel, it was put to Wright that the report ‘‘does not do what you think it does’’.

‘‘Your submission to the tribunal is that if you had access to the report, you would be able to publish its findings and completely exonerate yourself. Is that correct?’’ Dalziel asked, to which Wright responded in the affirmative.

‘‘What if I put to you that there is material in the report that essentially makes some adverse findings about your behaviour? That would be a problem for you, wouldn’t it?’’

Wright responded that he had nothing to hide, and he had ‘‘no objection to anything in the report being published in the media’’.

‘‘You don’t have any objection to the report finding that you took young swimmers to a strip club at night, and that it had the ‘spectre of grooming’ about it, being published?’’ Dalziel asked.

‘‘ If the report makes the observation that you ‘ display a lack of personal insight’ and you have the ‘propensity for immoderate and aggressive behaviour in conflict’, wouldn’t that be a problem for you?

‘‘If the report determines that you used swimwatch to harass, bully and demean [the complainant], your claim for damages falls away, doesn’t it?’’

To each question, Wright firmly repeated his assertion that he had nothing to hide.

In relation to the strip club incident, Wright told the tribunal he had taken a group of swimmers to the home of the Whitehouse owner, not to the strip club itself, for the purposes of trying to procure sponsorship for the West Auckland club. The club’s owner had supported his swimmers to the tune of more than $ 200,000 over the years, including $120,000 in support of Toni Jeffs’ 1992 Olympic campaign, he said.

The tribunal has reserved its decision.

‘‘We did not want the report being made publicly available online... and used as an instrument to malign and attack those in the report.’’ Bruce Cotterill