FIVE former City of Oxford Swimming Club (COSC) coaches have been cleared of safeguarding concerns, according to the British Swimming Coaches Association (BSCA).

Head coach Amanda Booth, age-group coach Mikey Hire, senior coach Zichen Liu, group coach Fabian Whitbread and Matt Croyle, lead strength and conditioning, resigned in April following a public fallout with management.

They were the subjects of an internal disciplinary investigation into their behaviour, after swimmers and parents raised welfare concerns.

The BSCA have now circulated extracts from a confidential report carried out on behalf of the sport’s national governing body, which found there were no safeguarding issues.

The document also claims a letter from COSC to members in April that said Swim England had been investigating welfare concerns was a ‘false and misleading statement to members and the public’.

An extract published on the BSCA’s website said: “There is (was) no evidence, under Wavepower or Swim England guidance, that any coach represented a risk of harm to a child.”

The report recommended that COSC provide a written confirmation to members and publish on their website that there is no current child safeguarding investigation, to ‘clearly correct their previous false statement’.

But a COSC spokesperson said nothing on the club’s website is factually incorrect and claimed separate welfare worries have not been addressed.

They added: “The club is disappointed that a confidential report has been leaked into the public domain and we’re concerned about the impact on swimmers.”

The five coaches left with immediate effect on Easter Monday, alleging they had been bullied and harassed by COSC committee members – a claim the club denies.

COSC has more than 200 members aged seven to 70, but there were fears the saga would lead some of their high-performance swimmers to move elsewhere.

Later in April, Swim England temporarily banned children being weighed as part of their training.

A statement said: “We have taken an interim position that across all of our disciplines, athletes under 18 should not be weighed as part of their training programme, unless this takes place under the auspices of a world class programme or national talent programme.”