Bronze medalist Ariana Kukors poses for a photo on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Women's 200m Individual Medley at the world champs in 2011. Photo / Getty Images
Bronze medalist Ariana Kukors poses for a photo on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Women's 200m Individual Medley at the world champs in 2011. Photo / Getty Images
A former world-record holding Olympic swimmer has claimed a Team USA coach sexually abused her and took thousands of naked photos over her when she was 17.
Investigators have searched the Seattle home of a former US Olympic Team swimming coach Sean Hutchison amid the claims made by athlete Ariana Kukors, the Daily Mail reported.
Homeland Security taskforce investigators along with police in Washington state served a search warrant at 46-year-old's apartment Tuesday, recovering electronic devices they say may contain evidence.
Investigators have searched the Seattle home of a former US Olympic Team swimming coach Sean Hutchison. Photo / Supplied
It is alleged he abused his powers as Kukors' coach, grooming her and then sexually abusing her as a teenager.
Homeland Security launched an investigation on January 30 following a report from Kukors, according to the court documents, the SeattlePI reported.
Kukors, now 28, said in a statement Wednesday that she went to police to report that Hutchison sexually assaulted her on trips and while training at Seattle area pools.
She told investigators that Hutchison used his position as her longtime coach to 'groom her' for sexual abuse.
Kukors said the grooming started at age 13 when he became her coach at King Aquatics, a Seattle-area swim club.
She claims Hutchison started sexually abusing her when she was 16.
Kukors, the 2009 world champion in the 200m individual medley who placed fifth in that event in the 2012 Olympics, said she came forward to empower other victims.
At the World Championships in Rome, in 2009, she swam the 200m individual medley long course in 2:07.03, before shaving almost a second off her time the following day to break her own world record, setting the new one at 2:06.15.
Her time was beaten by three one-hundredths of a second in 2015 by Hungarian athlete Katinka Hosszú at the 2015 World Championships in Russia.
"I never thought I would share my story because, in so many ways, just surviving was enough," Kukors said.
"But in time, I've realised that stories like my own are too important to go unwritten.
Kukors swims in the women's 200m IM qualifying heats during the Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Championships in 2010. Photo / Getty Images
"Not for the sake of you knowing my story, but for the little girls and boys whose lives and future hangs in the grasp of a horribly powerful and manipulative person.
"That they may not have to go through the same pain, trauma, horror, and abuse.
"That their parents, mentors, and guardians are better able to spot the signs of grooming and realise its tragic consequences before it's too late."
Hutchison, who was an assistant coach on the 2008 US Olympic team, didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday.
In a search warrant affidavit, a Homeland Security Investigations special agent said investigators responded to claims that Hutchison took sexually explicit photos of Kukors more than a decade ago.
Hutchison was a US Olympic swimming coach in California at the time, a position from which he resigned in 2010 amid speculation that he was sexually involved with a swimmer.
Hutchison denied it at the time, saying "there is no truth to that," and insisting his departure was a long-planned move to form his own pro team.
Hutchison is currently listed as the CEO of King Aquatics.
