A teenage swimmer has filed a lawsuit alleging she was sexually assaulted by a fitness trainer who worked with her competitive swim club, a case that has raised questions about potential gaps in oversight within Ontario’s amateur sports system.
The lawsuit, filed in Ontario Superior Court in Milton, Ont., in February, alleges that Jeffrey Babister, a trainer at a Georgetown, Ont.,-area gym used by the Halton Hills Blue Fins Swim Club, engaged in inappropriate physical contact and sexualized behaviour toward a minor athlete during strength-training sessions in 2022 and 2023.
The plaintiff, who is identified in court documents only as P.M. because she was a minor at the time of the alleged incidents, is seeking $250,000 in general damages and $500,000 in special damages.
According to the statement of claim, P.M. was 15 years old and a competitive swimmer with the Blue Fins between September 2022 and the spring of 2023. As part of the team’s training program, swimmers regularly attended conditioning sessions at Fitness Cave Fitness Studio in Georgetown, where Babister worked as a trainer.
The lawsuit alleges that Babister would have athletes lie on the ground and then lie on top of them while performing stretches or massages, a maneuver the plaintiff described as inappropriate and sexualized.
The claim further alleges that Babister sometimes slapped swimmers on the buttocks and made comments about the plaintiff’s clothing and appearance, including saying he preferred her “tighter shorts.”
In January 2023, the lawsuit alleges, Babister walked past the athlete during a training session, slapped her on the buttocks without warning and laughed before walking away. The claim also alleges that Babister later contacted the swimmer on Instagram in September 2023 while she was still a minor.
According to the claim, the swimmer reported the alleged incidents to Halton Regional Police in September 2023. Police arrested Babister on Oct. 16, 2023, and charged him with one count of sexual abuse and one count of sexual interference. Charges against Babister were withdrawn Nov. 8, 2024, according to court records obtained by TSN.
None of the allegations in the lawsuit have been proven in court. Babister wrote in an email to TSN that he denies the allegations.
“In October 2023, I was charged with sexual assault and sexual interference of a swim team member in the middle of a group training session,” Babister wrote. “The charges were withdrawn the following year without going to a trial by the Crown…I have now been served with a civil claim and am seeking to defend this whole ordeal once more. Finding proper legal representation is proving difficult, but I will be obtaining those services… Print what you will, but I absolutely have done nothing of a sexual nature to anyone I have ever trained.”
The lawsuit names the swim club and Swim Ontario, the provincial governing body for competitive swimming, as co-defendants and alleges they were negligent and breached their duty of care by allowing Babister to interact with athletes and by failing to ensure that trainers working with swimmers were properly vetted and supervised.
The claim also alleges the club failed to ensure trainers working with athletes were in good standing with Swim Ontario and failed to adequately monitor training sessions involving minors.
The Halton Hills Blue Fins Swim Club did not respond to a request for comment. Swim Ontario wrote in a statement to TSN that Babister was never under its authority.
In a statement responding to questions about the case, Swim Ontario chief executive Dean Boles said the organization learned of the allegations when criminal charges were laid in 2023 but determined Babister was not registered with the governing body and did not work for a Swim Ontario member club.
“An internal inquiry revealed that Mr. Babister was not a Registrant of Swim Ontario nor was he employed by one of Swim Ontario’s Member Clubs,” Boles wrote. “As neither Mr. Babister nor his employer, Fitness Cave Fitness Studio, were affiliated with Swim Ontario, he was (regrettably) beyond the jurisdiction of Swim Ontario’s discipline process.”
Swim Ontario said it investigates allegations of misconduct involving registered coaches and members and can sanction or publicly list individuals who violate its code of conduct. But because Babister was not a registrant, the organization said it had no ability to suspend or discipline him.
The lawsuit alleges that Swim Ontario nevertheless had a duty to ensure member clubs had proper safeguards when working with outside trainers and third-party facilities used by athletes.
The plaintiff claims the alleged misconduct caused significant emotional distress and disrupted her swim training, education and athletic career.
“As a result of the sexual interference and sexual assault committed against her … the Plaintiff has suffered and will continue to experience emotional and mental pain and suffering, as well as a loss of enjoyment of life,” the claim states.
