Exclusive by Lorna Knowles, ABC Investigations, and Nikki Tugwell, 5 Oct 2021<\/p>\n
Australian swimming legend\u00a0Lisa Curry fights back tears as she recalls her old friend\u00a0Shane Lewis.<\/p>\n
Curry and Lewis trained together in the 1980s and both represented Australia at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.<\/p>\n
WARNING: This story contains details that readers may\u00a0find distressing.<\/strong><\/p>\n Shane Lewis (left) with fellow Olympic swimmers Samantha Riley and Phil Rogers.<\/a> Supplied<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI knew Shane when he was in his teens\u00a0and he was always the joker,\u201d Curry says.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was a good guy, he was funny, and a hard worker.<\/p>\n \u201cWe swam together as teenagers at Leander in Brisbane.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd we were often in the same lane together, being breaststrokers.\u00a0So, you know, lots of good memories from those days.<\/p>\n \u201cBut, you know, once everyone leaves the pool, you don\u2019t know what goes on.\u201d<\/p>\n Curry and the close-knit Australian swimming community were left reeling when Lewis died unexpectedly\u00a0in February this year.<\/p>\n The coroner is yet to determine the 47-year-old\u2019s cause of death, but his family believes it was suicide.<\/p>\n The ABC can reveal that before his death, Lewis told friends and family that he had been sexually abused by an elite swimming coach.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been in the public eye for nearly 40 years and I think that this is probably the most important interview that I have ever done,\u201d Curry told the ABC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cBecause it\u2019s about time that people stopped hurting kids.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got to stop hurting these children that grow up with this pain\u00a0and this trauma and this shame.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In 2016, Lewis complained to Swimming Australia about his former coach, John Wright. He alleged that Wright had sexually abused him at Brisbane\u2019s Chandler pool in the 1980s.<\/p>\n Shane Lewis\u2019s mother, Sue Lewis, told the ABC Shane first disclosed the abuse to her in 2010, when he was recovering in hospital from a previous suicide attempt.<\/p>\n She said her son told her that John Wright would perform oral sex on him.<\/p>\n \u201cHe said he had been sexually assaulted as a minor over a year or more. When he was 11,12,13.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t know at the time. There were always innuendos around the place. Whispers around the clubs to be careful of John Wright. But Shane always seemed OK.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was the eldest of six kids. He was very good at hiding it.\u201d<\/p>\n A young Shane Lewis was popular with his peers.<\/a> Supplied<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Wright trained junior and elite squads, alongside leading swimming coach Laurie Lawrence. The ABC is not suggesting Lawrence was involved in any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n Disturbingly, Lewis is not the only swimmer to allege he was sexually abused by Wright.<\/p>\n In the wake of Lewis\u2019s death, two other former swimmers have told the ABC Wright molested them around the same time, at the same Brisbane pool.<\/p>\n In the 1980s, the Chandler pool in Brisbane was a training ground for a generation of young swimming champions.<\/p>\n The Chandler pool, now known as the Brisbane Aquatic Centre, is a world-class indoor pool with grandstand seating for over 4,000 spectators. The venue has hosted a number of high-profile events including the 1982 Commonwealth Games and the 2001 Goodwill Games.<\/p>\n Shane Lewis was one of many big names to train at Chandler, along with Hayley Lewis, Duncan Armstrong and Jon Sieben.<\/p>\nA pool of champions<\/h2>\n