Rio Olympic silver winner Madeline Groves withdrew from Olympics 2021, but it’s not a common reason that athletes usually withdraw.
Madeline Groves is a two-time silver Olympic winner from Australia. Despite suffering from serious health issues, that could impact her career; Groves gave up her motherhood for her career in swimming.
But, right when her career peaked, she suddenly withdrew from Olympics 2021 at the last moment. Why did she do that?
In this article, we will release all details about her swimming career. So, make sure you read the article to the last.
But, before that, let’s look at her quick facts.
Quick Facts
| Full Name | Madeline Groves |
| Other Name | Maddie Groves |
| Nickname | Mad dog, Machine gun |
| Age | 28 years old |
| Birth Date | May 25, 1995 |
| Birthplace | Brisbane, Queensland |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Mother | Claire Brinkman Groves |
| Father | Greg Groves |
| Star Sign | Gemini |
| Height | 5’10″/179 cm |
| Weight | 66 kg/146 lb |
| Eye Color | Hazel Green |
| Hair color | Blonde |
| Marital Status | Unmarried |
| Boyfriend | Tom Barton |
| Children | None |
| School | Wilston State Primary School |
| High School | St Peters Lutheran College |
| Education | Social Science |
| University | Bond University |
| Profession | Swimmer, Olympics athlete |
| Titles | 2013 Australian Swimming Champion. |
| Olympic Medals | 2; Silver medal |
| Other medals |
|
| Strokes | Butterfly |
| Club | St Peters Western |
| Coach | Michael Bohl |
| Net Worth | $1-$5 million |
| Social Media | Instagram, Twitter |
| Merch | Swimming Goggles, Swimming Gear |
| Last Update | April, 2024 |
Who is Madeline Groves?
Madeline Groves is the Olympic competitive swimmer from Australia who won two silvers in the 2016 Rio Olympics. She won them in the Women’s 200m Butterfly and 4x100m medley relay event.
Apart from that, Maddie has been the Australian national champion in the 200m butterfly event for four consecutive years, from 2013 to 2016. Groves is also a dual Commonwealth Games gold medalist.
Madeline Groves | Early Life and Education
Madeline was born on May 25, 1995, in Brisbane, Queensland. Her father is Greg Groves, and her mother is Claire Brinkman Groves. She has two brothers, but their whereabouts are unknown.
Groves did her schooling at Wilston State Primary School and later went to St Peter’s Lutheran College for her high school.
In 2014, she was the first winner of the Georgina Hope Rinehart Swimming Excellence Scholarship.
This allowed her to attend Bond University on Queensland’s Gold Coast to pursue a Bachelor of Social Science degree.
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Madeline Groves | Swimming Career
How did Madeline Groves start swimming?
Madeline Groves is a god-gifted swimmer. She learned swimming right from when she was a baby. So she knew from the start what she loved to do and what she would want to become in the future.
Since swimming was her dream from a young age, she started participating in swimming competitions at the age of twelve.
Successful Junior Career
In 2010, she participated in Junior Oceania Swimming Championships in Samoa. She won three golds and a silver in the event.
She won the gold in 100m and 200m butterfly event and silver in 50 m butterfly. Also, She won the four × 100 m medley event.
Along with this, Madeline participated at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Hawai the same year. There, she was able to win a silver medal in the 200 m butterfly.
She took a break from swimming to focus on her studies and returned after graduating from high school. That’s when her real swimming journey began.
The breakthrough
Groves was relatively unknown until 2013. Then, she rose to national fame after winning the national title in the 200 m butterfly event at the 2013 Australian Swimming Championships.
She won the championship the next year as well and was selected for the Commonwealth Game team.
The Aussie-born swimmer won two gold in the Common Wealth games in 400m and 800m freestyle relay. Apart from this, Maddie also won a bronze medal in the 200m butterfly event.
In the 2015 World Championship, she won the bronze medal. Also, she set a new all-comers record in the 200m butterfly at the Hancock Prospecting Australian Swimming championship the same year.
With her outstanding swimming records, Madie was selected to represent Australia in Olympics 2016.
First Olympic Appearance and the win
Madeline Groves made her Olympic debut in the 2016 Olympics held in Rio. She competed in the 200m butterfly event, where she ended up winning silver for Australia.
She was just three seconds behind the gold medalist Mireia Belmonte Garcia of Spain. It was a close win.
Groves failed to bring a gold medal but instead got two silver home. She won the unexpected silver at women’s 800m free relay.
Winning gold at Pan Pacific Championship
In 2018, Maddie participated in Pan Pacific Championship held in Tokyo. She competed in the women’s 800m free relay, where she finished fastest, breaking the pan pacific championship record. She won the gold in the event.
Also, the same year, Groves won silver in 100m Common Wealth Games.
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Madeline Groves’s withdrawal from Olympics
Maddie had done exceptionally in her debut Olympic game. It was a close game where she could have won the gold.
Nevertheless, the expectations for Groves were high that she would bring gold in the 2020 Olympics Game.
But, Maddie withdrew herself from Australian Olympic Swimming Trials at the last moment. This raised tough questions on why did she do so?
To any athlete, competing in the Olympics is a rare opportunity they would never miss on. Usually, the athletes opt from the Olympics to exceptional cases such as health issues. But, this wasn’t the case for Maddie Groves.
When asked why Maddie replied that she withdrew as a protest for the misogynistic perverts in the sports and to teach the lessons.
In her social media, Maddie wrote a long message clarifying that she wanted to give lessons to perverts in the sports who exploit young women and girls, body shame, or medically gaslight them.
Groves alleged a person she worked with saying he had made her feel uncomfortable. She said she was sexually abused and passed sexual comments.
This raised serious concerns for the Australian Swimming Association and the people working with Maddie. This caused the intervention of the Australian Human Rights Commission to investigate the case of harassment, abuse, and mistreatment of women in sports.
Maddie took a stand to talk about this sensitive issue prevalent in sports. Groves made that splash, and its ripple seems to last for years.
Battle with Adenimosis and Endometriosis
Madeline Groves has a condition known as adenomyosis and endometriosis. She has been recently diagnosed with both diseases.
It is a medical condition when the cells in the uterus (endometrium) break through the muscle walls of the uterus and grow outside the uterus. This causes enlargement of the uterus and heavy period bleeding.
Groves, being a swimmer, the disease is a career-threatening condition. However, Groves openly shares about her medical condition on her social media. She says the pain of adenomyosis is so severe. It feels like being stabbed in the uterus.
On top of that, her adenomyosis had worsened. So, she made a solid decision to undergo medically induced menopause. After some scans, found out that she had pre-cancerous lesions on her cervix.
She underwent surgery to have those lesions removed the very next day, despite the possibility of not being able to conceive.
The Aussie-born was prescribed several medications to help deal with the debilitating pain and even had the Mirena inserted. But it caused her to vomit every day for three months. She went to an operation to reduce her symptoms.
Maddie took a break from her swimming career to diagnose the condition. Finally, Her condition was diagnosed in 2017.
Madeline Groves’s Boyfriend
Madeline Groves is dating a guy named Tom Barton. He is the developer of an app called Q Swim.
He is also a sports physio and yoga instructor. Both openly share their photos on social media.
Madeline Groves | Net worth
The estimated net worth of Madeline Groves is anywhere between $1 to $5 million. Her net worth comes from her career as a competitive swimmer.
The Aussies get paid a whopping amount of $15,000 for winning the silver in the Olympics. Groves also received about $30,000 as the silver medalist in Rio Olympics.
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Madeline Groves’s Social media
Madeline Groves has a solid social media presence. She is active on Instagram and Twitter, where she is vocal about her ideas and shares her life story.
She shares posts about the dark reality of the condition of women in sports as well as her journey of battling with adenomyosis and endometriosis.
Apart from this, Groves also shares her personal life, travel photos, and swimming workouts. In addition, she posts behind the scenes of her sporty life and uses her social media to connect with her supporters.
You can follow her on her social media to know more about what’s happening in her life.
Instagram : 16.1K followers
Twitter: 3.8K followers
FAQs
Who was Madeline Groves talking about?
Madeline has not specified a particular name on who she is talking about. But, the alleged person is a member of the Senior Swimming Association who works with her.
Who is the coach of Madeline Groves?
Michael Bohl is the coach of Madeline Groves. He is also the coach of other swimming legends such as Mitch Larkin, Grant Irvine, etc. Groves has known Michael since 2008, and he has been coaching her since 2012.
