Former Irish National Center Coach To Be Sentenced For Recording Girls Changing

A former Irish swim coach who served on the staff at the National Training Center in Dublin will be sentenced later this month for secretly recording girls changing.

Matthew Coward, 32, pleaded guilty to three counts of the sexual exploitation of three girls and a number of counts of the production of child pornography, The Journal reports.

Coward was arrested and charged with sexual exploitation and producing child abuse materials in May 2022, and prior to that had been charged with 12 offenses under Ireland’s Child Trafficking and Pornography Act over a six-month period from September 2021 to February 2022.

On Friday, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that one of the three girls broke down in her father’s car on the way home from swim practice, telling him she thought she had been recorded while changing into her suit.

The swimmer told her father that Coward gave her a pair of suits or “swimming skins” to try on in his office and told her she would need to get “completely naked” in order to try them on.

She then noticed a phone propped up in Coward’s office and wondered if she had been recorded, also noting that the suit could take up to 20 minutes to put on. She added that a number of different girls had tried on the suits in his offices in recent weeks.

Sergeant Shane Behan told the court that the girls’ father spoke to Swim Ireland Head of Safeguarding Kate Hills, who told him that all coaches are required to undertake safeguarding courses and vetting, and that any conversations had between the coach and any 18-and-under swimmers should happen in an “open” environment.

Swim Ireland contacted Irish Police (Garda) and the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) after speaking to the girl’s father, and Coward was told he needed to stand down as coach shortly thereafter.

After search warrants were obtained, the Garda found nearly 80 videos on Coward’s electronic devices, two of which were categorized as child abuse material and seven that were deemed inappropriate. The Irish National Cyber Crime Unit categorized them as “category two,” indicating they contained child nudity.

Other videos on his devices showed children being filmed stretching at the pool.

Coward was named to the Irish National Training Center staff in 2018-19, and was most recently tabbed to lead a new Swim Ireland program called “Project 28” in November 2021. The story that announced he was taking over this position has since been taken down, but is still archived on the web here. That program was “designed to provide an amplified coaching environment for Dublin-based athletes with 2028 prospects.”

James Dwyer, who was defending Coward in court, said the defendant has been living with his wife and children since the arrest, with a safety plan put in place by Tusla. He worked as a night manager at Starbucks to continue providing for his family. Dwyer added that Coward expressed remorse for his actions.

The maximum sentence for child exploitation is life in prison, with 14 years the maximum for the production of child pornography.

Dwyer asked the court to take into account Coward’s guilty plea, the lack of prior convictions, his expressions of remorse, the publicity of the case in Ireland and the effect it’s had on both his family and career.

“I am going to have to consider this matter as there is a lot of material to consider,” said Judge Orla Crowe, who remanded Coward on continued bail with the case set to be finalized on November 21.