Peter Bishop accepts new head coaching role with Royal Dutch Swimming Federation

Elite swimming coach Peter Bishop – the trainer behind the career of Australia’s Olympic freestyle sprinter Kyle Chalmers - will leave his role at the South Australian Sports Institute to take up the head coaching role of the Dutch National team.

Bishop played a significant role in Australian swimming, in particular Chalmers claiming three individual medals across three Olympics and also the success of Paralympian Matt Cowdrey – who won 23 Paralympic medals from three Games including 13 gold.

Bishop also coached Hayden Stoeckel to an Olympic silver medal in 100m backstroke and to bronze in the 4x100m medley relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

However, the appointment with the Dutch National team comes eight months after Bishop was stood down from any involvement in the Paris Games.

Bishop was stood down from his position with the South Australian Sports Institute (SASI) following an investigation, leaving Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers with a coaching change just 140 days out from the Paris Games.

In a statement provided by SASI in March 2024, a spokesperson confirmed Bishop had been moved into another role until December and said it had "received information that has resulted in an investigation".

Swimming Australia had revoked Bishop's coaching accreditation until the end of the Olympic cycle as the sport's governing body revealed it had been "informed of a recent investigation and findings by the South Australia Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing into South Australian Sports Institute (SASI) high-performance swimming program" and added "Swimming Australia respects the process and findings and has revoked Peter Bishop's coaching accreditation until the end of the Olympic cycle, upon which he is eligible to reapply.”

No details of the investigation were released.

Bishop will now leave Australia to take over the coaching reins of a Dutch team following their disappointing Games in Paris which saw them win just two bronze medals to Tes Schouten and Caspar Corbeau – in the women’s and men’s 200m breaststroke respectively.

On the announcement of Bishop’s new role with the Dutch National team, Australian head coach Rohan Taylor noted “his contribution across Olympic and Paralympic Games is significant and greatly valued. Kyle (Chalmers) and Matt (Cowdrey) are legends of our sport and Bish (Bishop) has been integral to shaping their careers.

“We wish Bish all the best as he takes the next step into a head coaching role.”

In today’s Swimming Australia statement, Bishop shared “It’s been a privilege to make a contribution to the Dolphins’ success and I look forward to a new challenge.”

Swimming Australia will be making no further comment.

Image. Credit: South Australian Sports Institute