Irvine: Dolphins star Isaac Cooper says he has been gagged by Swimming Australia and warned not to speak publicly about a drinking incident at the Commonwealth Games, while claiming head coach Rohan Taylor offered him the option of standing down as a team leader.

This masthead revealed that Cooper did not show up for the final night of swimming competition in Glasgow to support his teammates, nor did he attend a mandatory team meeting that followed.

Swimming Australia’s statement on August 3, which Cooper was aware of before it was released, read: “Isaac did not attend the final night of the swimming competition or final team meeting in Glasgow which is in conflict with team expectations. Isaac has since voluntarily stood down from the team’s athlete leadership group.”

After completing his heat of the 50m butterfly at the Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine on Wednesday (Thursday AEST), Cooper offered a brief comment on the drama.

“I think the last few weeks have been interesting for sure,” Cooper said. “I think a lot of people have been commenting on how well I’ve been able to turn things around and stay in a good mindset and be myself no matter what.”

However, later in the day after his final, Cooper said Taylor had given him the option of standing down from Australia’s leadership group when asked if it was correct that he had done so voluntarily.

“In terms of that even coming out in the public, I was pretty upset about that because Rohan presented that option to me [standing down as a leader] as if it was an option,” Cooper said after finishing fifth behind Australian gold medallist Ben Armbruster on the opening night of competition in California.

“I had been considering standing down from leadership previously. I asked him, ‘Is this going to get out in the media?’ He promised me that it wouldn’t. The fact it came out, I was pretty upset at. I guess some things you can’t control. That was also something that was brewing anyway.”

A day earlier, Taylor was asked whether Cooper had proactively offered to stand down as a leader.

“The conversations I’ve had with Isaac are between Isaac and I,” Taylor said.

Cooper declined to give his version of what transpired on the final night of the swimming in Glasgow, when he failed to show up to support his teammates and was spotted drinking at Australia’s team headquarters. While there were no restrictions on athletes drinking during the Games, there was an expectation Cooper would be at the pool even if he wasn’t competing.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate to talk about it. I’ve been told from my governing body that if I say certain things that my position on this team may be at risk,” Cooper said. “But I’m signing off on the 17th [of August], so if you want to have a chat then, I’ll have a chat.

“I have been quite disappointed that a lot of my privacy and freedom I feel like has been compromised by being part of this team.”

Asked if it had been difficult to focus on his swimming since the incident became public, Cooper said: “Yeah, it definitely has. There’s been lots and lots of things coming at me from different angles that have been trying to distract me from who I am and what I stand for. I think I’ve really done a good job about putting all those things aside and using everything that’s been going on … to just put together the best racing I can.

“I’m using it all to channel myself; I sort of sit down there and meditate. At the end of the day, I only really care about what my family have to say about me. Everyone else, I don’t really mind what they have to say. They can speculate as much as they want.”

Swimming Australia and Taylor said Cooper pulled out of the 100m backstroke final on the last night in Scotland so he could focus on swimming the heats of the 4x100m medley relay. Cooper, however, said a long-running back injury contributed to the decision.

“My plan was always just to sort of do the heat swim in the relay,” Cooper said. “For a few years now, I haven’t been as focused in the 100 backstroke. I always think that when I train for the 100 backstroke, it comes at the cost of my 50s.

“I’ve had a stress fracture in my back for the last few years. It was at its worst in Doha [at the world championships in 2024] and is something I have had to manage. I’m never really one to lean on excuses, [but] that definitely was a contributing factor. The more I swim, the worse it gets.”

Cooper was sent home from an Australian training camp in 2022 for the “misuse of prescription medication” and said last month he felt he was harshly treated during the episode.

The now two-time Olympian admitted to giving teammates his sleeping pills.

“It didn’t seem as though anybody was really on my side,” Cooper said last month. “That was also quite difficult to go through because I know that I didn’t receive the support that I should have had. [I was] on the flight the next day.”

Cooper has also split with coach Ash Delaney, a decision made on the eve of the Commonwealth Games. In a statement to Seven news, Delaney said: “Following Commonwealth Games trials, Isaac and I mutually agreed it was the right time to move in different directions. We’re both proud of what we achieved together, and I wish Isaac every success in the next chapter of his swimming career.”