Erin Willson is an Olympian in Artistic Swimming, the current President of AthletesCAN, and recently completed her PhD in Safe Sport at the University of Toronto. Her initial interest in the topic of safe sport was inspired by her own experience as a national team athlete, where she experienced significant emotional abuse and body shaming from her coaches. She has researched topics including the prevalence of maltreatment in Canada, the effects of emotional abuse, body shaming, and gender-based violence, and has explored the use of positive coaching styles to address maltreatment. Through her position at AthletesCAN, she has become a fierce advocate for athlete rights, including well-being, safety in sport, and athlete representation, ensuring that the athletes are at the heart of the sport system.
