Montreal swimmer speaking out after she was drugged at world championships

Montreal swimmer Mary-Sophie Harvey says she was drugged on the final day of the world aquatics championships and suffered a rib sprain and a concussion.

The Canadian swimmer is now speaking out after she said in an Instagram post that there is a four-to-six-hour window where she has no recollection of what happened and that she remembers waking up with the Canadian team manager and doctor by her bedside.

(CREDIT: Instagram @marysophieharve)

“I kept trying to remember things, but I couldn’t and I still can’t. The scary parts are the what-ifs because it’s unknown for me,” she told CityNews.

From what she does remember, she says she knew something wasn’t right.

“Even though I was telling people, some of them were like, You probably just drank too much. Maybe next time you’ll think about this and you’ll be more careful ((JOINING)) I was in control the whole time until I can’t recall anything and I felt shame because I started to believe what everyone was saying.”

She posted photos of the bruises left on her body.

(CREDIT: Instagram @marysophieharve)

“The next morning I went to training and I kind of broke down a little bit. And I was really scared because seeing the bruises made me feel like maybe something happened and I didn’t know. I called the line that is supposed to like help victims in this type of situation and that’s when I got struck by the lack of resources we have and the lack of resources victims have for the situation.”

Montreal’s Harvey competed in the women’s 200-metre individual medley at the world championships in Budapest, Hungary, finishing eighth. She also earned a bronze medal in the women 4×200-metre freestyle relay after swimming in the preliminaries.

“This wonderful meet I had was tarnished by this and it was just like a roller coaster of emotions,” she explained

“It was actually my first big international medal that I got there and I just remember opening the box back home and I feel like it didn’t belong to me. I didn’t feel like the body I was in belonged to me.”

“We are aware there was an incident the night before departure from Budapest,” Swimming Canada spokesman Nathan White said in an email to The Canadian Press. “As soon as team staff became aware, Mary received excellent medical treatment from our team physician on-site, and was cleared to travel home.

“Staff have been in contact with Mary since her return and we are offering her support. We continue to gather information on the situation, and the file has been forwarded to our independent Safe Sport officer.”

Harvey said she debated on whether to write her post, but said “these situations sadly happen too many times for me to stay silent.”

(Photo Credit: Marie-Sophie Harvey/ IG)

“I’m still scared to think about the unknowns of that night,” she wrote. “I’m still in a way, ashamed of what happened, and I think I always will be. … But I won’t let this event define me.”

Despite this, she’s now trying to raise awareness.

“In my head before that I was thinking, Oh, it can’t happen to me. It doesn’t happen that often. And I’m with friends, so I’m safe. But sadly, it does happen a lot.”

Swimming Canada says an independent investigation was launched to figure out what happened.

“I was not the only swimmer. And I think it’s something we need to shed light on.”

Harvey says she’s taking it day by day and coping through sharing her story.

“I’m not the only one in this situation, which is sad, but it also like I think it helped people and it also helped me see that we’re not alone in this and it doesn’t define us.”

The 22-year-old Harvey competed for Canada in last year’s Tokyo Olympics. She’s scheduled to swim in this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.

-With files from the Canadien Press