Below is the preliminary meet schedule approved by Maryland Swimming with a few known additions. Anastasia Gloushkov Leventhal, then 19, left, with her teammate Inna Yoffe in 2004. This is not true. Hindson was sentenced in 2008 to 33 years in federal prison. WebCompetitive swimming in the U.S. has been scandal-ridden in recent years, with sexual-abuse prosecutions of coaches and civil lawsuits against USA Swimming prompting About a month later, he was sued for defamation in Maryland federal court in Baltimore for some of what he'd been publishing and pushing other media to cover-allegations that a February 2012 incident involving NBAC team members amounted to a "sexual assault," even though a law-enforcement investigation concluded without charges. At North Baltimore Aquatic Club, Coach Himes oversees approximately 140 swimmers who are 13 and younger and directly coaches two of the seven groups in the NBAC Age Group Division. "In the course of rooting out systematic sexual abuse," Muchnick explains, "there is a possibility that, somewhere along the way, there's going to be a false positive in the allegations, but that doesn't mean to me that you just sit back." Photo Courtesy: Griffin Scott. According to USA Swimming, the organization only checks for criminal convictions and does not include background interviews or investigations with local police. A subsequent search of Hindson's home turned up more locker room footage and a large selection of child pornography. A hundred is even more. Szauder also did not respond to previous attempts to reach him. The U.S. Department of Justice launched its own investigation in 2020 regarding Shaws alleged sexual misconduct and the universitys handling of it. Tuite will serve as the schools deputy athletic director of external relations. Miroslava Germanov contributed reporting from Bratislava, Slovakia. You state their conclusion that Because USA Swimming (and therefore its Code of Conduct) was not in existence in 1975, the organization legally had no recourse in the matter. All of us at USA Swimming are committed to fostering that experience for all our members in a safe environment. Such remarks felt very inappropriate and yet were just normalized at practice, Spada said. The abuse was alleged to have taken place in 1975, when swimming was governed by the AAU. Taflinger's parents later identified Brooke for the FBI as one of the girls who was taped naked in the locker and shower area. CONTACT THE ABC NEWS INVESTIGATIVE TEAM IF YOU HAVE A STORY TO ADD TO THIS INVESTIGATION. All Rights Reserved. WebNot everyone at last weekend's NCAA women's swimming championship raced against Lia Thomas -- but they were all overshadowed by him. Baltimore police have found no record of any complaint being passed on yet. WebThe Court of Appeals decision Meadowbrook Swimming Club, Inc. vs Talbot J. Albert et al is the precedent case cited in Maryland for noise complaints. USA Swimming states: Because USA Swimming (and therefore its Code of Conduct) was not in existence in 1975, the organization legally had no recourse in the matter. But this case was so horrible, what was happening to this family at the hands of this internet bully." The operative questionwhen is enough enough? As for Muchnick's purported larger goal-exposing misdeeds among the swimming world's powerful-McKenna says, "more power to anybody who wants to work to uncover something that is really horrible, but this isn't. The club representative, John Cadigan, informed the alleged victim that the police would be contacting her and that USA Swimming would be called and an investigation would ensue from Colorado Springs. Additionally, the club at the time wasand currently isco-owned by Phelps and his coach Bob Bowman (Bowman is currently taking a leave from coaching to work with TSE, a powerful consulting firm that was profiled in an earlier article in this series). Actually, NBAC is the one who did everything right, not USA Swimming. 2020 Concussion Inc. - Author Irvin Muchnick. Hindson is one of the 36 coaches banned for life for sexual misconduct over the last 10 years by USA Swimming, the governing body for the sport up to and including the U.S. Olympic team. Genevive Peel, 26, a medical student and former elite Canadian artistic swimmer, wrote a series of blog posts in October, describing the despair that left her sitting on the edge of chairs so her thighs would appear thinner, counting the exact number of almonds she had for a snack and developing an overwhelming fear of gaining a single pound. Seems to me USA Swimming did everything they could for an alleged abuse that took place 37 years ago. How could something be gotten so wrong? Hopkins said the young athletes asked him. Ken Stopkotte, named Indiana High School Boys Swimming and Diving State Coach of the year for 2009, said the problem is pervasive and has been going on his entire 27 years in coaching. The coach was the first to bring the accusations from his swimmers to campus officials in 2009, back when former school President Jon Whitmore and athletic director Tom Bowen were in charge. As far as people saying, enough is enough, you should understand that unfortunately in a country this large with the freedoms it has and an organization as large as USA Swimming sexually harassment cases are going to happen. These allegations Summer McIntosh is the defending World Champion in the 200 fly, but hasnt swum the race in long course since winning that title last summer. Accused coaches often move from country to country with little or no consequences. Go here to see 4,114 Swim Jobs. "We have a system that does not encourage the reporting," said Bob Allard, a San Jose, CA lawyer representing sex abuse victims suing USA Swimming. As I noted in a guest column for this site back in December, this is a cautionary tale, an object lesson if you will, in how utterly negligent the media have been in holding USA Swimming and its clubs accountable for what has transpired. 9, 2010 — -- In a sex abuse scandal that some victims compare to what happened in the Catholic Church, at least 36 swimming coaches have been banned for life by the USA Swimming organization over the last 10 years because of sexual misconduct. However, due to USA Swimmings commitment to Safe Sport and the safety of our swimmers, we reported the complaint and information received to the Baltimore County Police Department, Precinct 1. Please know that we take the safety of our swimmers very seriously, and through our Safe Sport program we thoroughly investigate issues and quickly and prudently take action. "I certainly violated common corporate journalistic convention by deciding to publish names of minors," Muchnick says in an interview after the settlement, "and I have dialed that back" since he was ordered to do so by the court. But "ten months after this incident, Muchnick falsely, maliciously and repeatedly began to publish defamatory statements that Minor John Doe is a 'sexual predator,' a 'child sex abuser],' a 'social deviant' and a 'sexual assailant' who 'digitally penetrated' and was repeatedly 'jabbing fingers' in 'the anus' of another swimmer.". In 2008, USA Swimming gave King a clean bill of health, saying his background screening had been approved. Wheres the smoking gun? Im looking forward to when I can tell the whole story regarding the tragic situation at SJSU. I give USA Swimming credit for not discriminating between a large or small clubthe organization seems to ignore complaints from all concerned. King previously worked as a swim coach in the San Francisco Bay area and in Oak Harbor, WA, where he was regarded as an excellent coach for aspiring Olympic team swimmers. Kisss coach at the 2012 Olympics, a fellow Hungarian named Gbor Szauder, one of the few male coaches at the elite level, is now under intense scrutiny as the national coach for Canada Artistic Swimming. Hes a father figure and made sure to look out for us.. But not his departure he continues, as owner of the Meadowbrook Aquatic Center, to collect scores of thousands of dollars a month in NBAC pool rental fees. One swimmer who spoke to the CBC, Sion Ormond, 21, is a plaintiff in the lawsuit against Canada Artistic Swimming. This is a strange story because of the fact that it is not USA Swimmings jurisdiction to get involved other than to pass it on to the police. Exactly what I needed: Los Gatos teachers move into affordable units, Christian high school basketball team forfeits tournament rather than play against transgender player, Opinion: Gov. When it disappeared from the office in 2019 a mystery that remains unsolved he sent a copy to the National Collegiate Athletics Association and other outside groups. The first investigation and its conclusion were largely kept quiet by campus leaders and Shaw continued treating female athletes unfettered as the Department of Justice put it for the next decade. Congress is looking into more alleged sexual assault of Olympic athletes beyond gymnastics this time involving USA Swimming and other sports. Founded in 1967, Incorporated in 1968, America's #1 Age Group Team Canadas artistic swimming team competed at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. During our annual convention, USA Swimming released a Safe Sport Report evaluating our efforts in this important area. WebOn Thursday, the North Baltimore Aquatic Club swam their last practice at Meadowbrook Swim Club, ending a relationship that dates back to the mid-80s. Last October, an independent organization devoted to safe sport, called ITP Sport, reviewed the accusations made by Canadian swimmers. The gaslighting that went on, suggesting that the abused swimmers werent really abused, he said, was truly hard to watch.. Scott Adams faces 'consequence culture' as U.S. newspapers drop Dilbert, Tom Cruise's 'ditching' of Suri showcased by Judd Apatow's 'co-parenting' joke, ex-Scientology exec says. To reiterate, USA Swimming, after being notified of a serious allegation didnt act. Background checks are not uniform across countries, officials say. "It was a sense of betrayal," Indiana swimming star Brooke Taflinger told ABC News chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross for a report to be broadcast Friday on "20/20.". The lawsuit was filed by "John Doe" because the plaintiff-one of the team members, who Muchnick cast as one of the two perpetrators of the alleged assault-was a minor. With the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics approaching in July, artistic swimming, as the sport is now known, finds itself awash in scandal that burst into public view recently in Canada and in a handful of other countries. WebThe NCAA Swimming Championship Was a National Scandal Swimmer Lia Thomas holds a trophy after finishing fifth in the 200 free at the NCAA Swimming & Diving NBAC acted perfectly. Canadian artistic swimmer Gabriella Brisson, center, said a coach suggested she move to Africa to lose weight. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. The North Baltimore Aquatic Club (NBAC) is a swim club based in and around Baltimore, Maryland. Anastasia Gloushkov Leventhal, 35, competed in four Olympics for Israel. Artistic swimming was introduced to the Olympics in 1984, and Russians have dominated, winning every team and duet competition since 2000. The new investigation reversed the outcome of the first, concluding that Shaws pressure point therapy was bogus and that he had, indeed, sexually abused 10 female athletes. She held that position until she stepped down in May 2021 after a string of investigations into sexual abuse by one of the universitys athletics trainers. ", "I teach media law," McKenna continues, "I get it-the internet, the First Amendment, I wrote the book on wiretapping and electronic privacy-so it's unusual that I come out ever wanting to limit speech. Swimmers interviewed described an unhealthy culture of thinness and disordered eating in an event that inevitably foments tension between art and sport. Not true. Five swimmers came forward to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and accused Szauder of making inappropriate sexual remarks and shaming athletes about their weight to the point that they had panic attacks. He gathered his women athletes next to the pool and broke the news: The athletic trainer that the swimmers had accused of sexually abusing them during physical therapy sessions, he told them, had been cleared by the university. ", Chicago police officer fatally shot on Southwest Side in exchange of gunfire: officials, Chicago police Superintendent David Brown to exit CPD this month in the wake of mayoral election, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. USA Swimming didnt do anything, because they couldnt. While I will accept a significant degree of credit for reporting on this story for a bit longer than Irv, the fact is that his tenacious and accurate reporting particularly over the last five months has been nothing short of remarkable. They do state, however, that they passed the complaint and information to the Baltimore County Police Department, Precinct 1. Im under no illusion that Phelps or his coach, Bob Bowman (now in the employ of a very powerful Olympic consulting group, TSE) will be forced to answer such questions in the immediate future. Within 24 hours of this story breaking, Joyce and all of his stories were removed from WBAL with no explanation. I applaud the fact that USA Swimming is now out in the open about it.Read more , The only thing USA Swimming has a legal right to do is not allow this person to be a USA Swimming member if and only if he is convicted.. Yet following the conclusion of that investigation, Hopkins and other athletes continued to report incidents of sexual misconduct involving Shaw for almost a decade. Natalia Tarasova, the head national team coach during that period and the only coach named Natalia listed in the Hungarian artistic swimming federations meeting minutes for those years, did not respond to requests for comment. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! Former San Jose State University Athletic Director Marie Tuite began a new role at Southern Utah University on Wednesday, two years after she was named in multiple lawsuits and investigations at SJSU. For USA Swimming not to investigate such a serious charge, especially since it involved a coach associated with this most famed club, is staggeringand made even more astounding considering that NBAC acted in such swift fashion. In another incident, Ormond said that Szauder told her, Sion, zip up your hoodie before I get too excited. Such behavior by Szauder was excused by Canadian officials, Ormond said, as a cultural difference because he was European. Note: The NCAA college comparisons are provided for entertainment Meadowbrook is best Tuite and other SJSU administrators were accused of ignoring reports of misconduct by Scott Shaw, the former director of sports medicine. See 4,114 Swim Jobs You Might Love, PSS Ft Lauderdale: Summer McIntosh Enters Her First 200m Fly Since Winning World Title, Share USA Swimming: The organization legally had no recourse in NBAC Coach Complaint on Facebook, Tweet USA Swimming: The organization legally had no recourse in NBAC Coach Complaint, Submit USA Swimming: The organization legally had no recourse in NBAC Coach Complaint to Reddit, Share USA Swimming: The organization legally had no recourse in NBAC Coach Complaint on Pinterest, Share USA Swimming: The organization legally had no recourse in NBAC Coach Complaint on LinkedIn, though one will recall that there was much coaching turnover in the club in the fall of 2011, FINA ARENA World Cup Series Photo Vault via Olympian Roland Schoeman, Phelps Partners with Paul Casey for Even Par on Day 1 at Dunhill, Sergio Lopez Gets a Big Raise; Guaranteed Assistant Pay Pool and Operating Budgets, What Will Leon Marchand Swim at the 2023 Pac-12 Championships? Investigative journalism is not peer-reviewed scientific literature. It is a contact sport. Now is not the time, Tuite said. This is an ugly situation. Due to the pasage of time less than two years. In some cases, the swimming coaches found to have been sexual predators were able to move from town to town, one step ahead of police and angry victims and their parents. That was an awesome start to the season, he said, a really, really awesome start.. As the swimmers left, there was one more thing. WebNBAC sent just one swimmer to the U.S. Olympic trials this year, and the clubs athletes no longer train at the Meadowbrook Swim Club in Mount Washington, where Phelps and all But on this recent case from 76 the group that was the governing body for swimming is still located and in continuos business on W 86th St in Indianapolis. Its all about them as usual. Ill spell it out for you. 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