Which is why I decided to partner with Irv; as, combined, we will be able to shed light on this grossly underreported story and, hopefully, also foster change in the way the sport is run in the United States. When a complaint is received, USA Swimming initiates an investigation through a third-party investigator. We asked for clarification on this issue, but received no response. What happened the other 36 years he was a coach? * Jill Chasson, chair of the USA Swimming National Board of Review, which hears sexual misconduct allegations, recently resigned after I reported that, as NBAC Olympic swimmer Jill Johnson, she had had an underage relationship with her coach John Cadigan, now Bowmans chief assistant. FTC Disclaimer | Terms of Use & Privacy Policy * WBAL Radio last year disappeared its own series on sex abuse in swimming by my colleague Tim Joyce, after Joyce started zeroing in on allegations against Murray Stephens, founder of Michael Phelps and Bob Bowmans North Baltimore Aquatic Club. All rights reserved. Have you spoken to the members of NBAC about why hes no longer at the club? It was a spring afternoon in 2010. Note: The NCAA college comparisons are provided for entertainment The North Baltimore Aquatic Club (NBAC) is a swim club based in and around Baltimore, Maryland. Its a Fitting Capper to Wide Official Cover-Up in the Ted Agu Football Conditioning Death at Cal. But even that investigation was pilloried by the Department of Justice, especially when it was revealed that Shaw continued to treat female athletes while the second investigation was underway, despite yet another admonition not to do so. Spada, of the United States, said that at age 13, she was once pushed down so hard by a coach that she needed hip surgery. USA Swimming takes all complaints regarding violations of the Code of Conduct, and especially those involving alleged abuse, very seriously. An investigation conducted by a human resources officer on campus cleared Shaw, saying that his pressure point therapy was legitimate a finding that led to the emotional poolside meeting. . "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. He said the 36 coaches banned by the organization over the last ten years were only a tiny fraction of the organization's 12,000 coaches in that time period. Muchnick had named the plaintiff and the other alleged perpetrator, also a minor, in his coverage of the incident, which allegedly occurred during NBAC practice at the Meadowbrook Aquatic Center, calling them perpetrators of a "sexual assault.". Established in 1968, the North Baltimore Aquatic Club (NBAC) continues to do what it does best - provide quality instruction for swimmers and This website does not provide legal advice. But elite synchronized swimmers who are mostly women, with few men at the elite level routinely endure bullying, harassment and psychological abuse from male and female coaches, more than 100 current and former athletes from more than a dozen countries have said in recent interviews with The New York Times and other news organizations, and in social media postings and blogs. "I gotta tell you, it hurt," Brooke's father, Bruce Taflinger, told "20/20." WebNorth Baltimore Aquatic Club: MA YY 2021 YORK-NBAC Spring SC Challenge Meet: 200 IM: 2:00.77: Dec. 15, 2018: Maggie Belbot: North Baltimore Aquatic Club: MD NBAC 44th Annual Christmas invitational: 400 IM: 4:18.90: March 1, 2019: Maggie Belbot: North Baltimore Aquatic Club: Maryland Swimming 14 & Under Championships: Web* Jill Chasson, chair of the USA Swimming National Board of Review, which hears sexual misconduct allegations, recently resigned after I reported that, as NBAC Olympic For an annual fee he could come right back and no one could stop him. Indeed, as my queries into the history of past and present abuse continued, I realized that this story is perhaps too big for just one concerned journalist to investigate. SwimMAC Carolina (North Carolina) 36,509. Thank you for your message. Julia Prodis Sulek is a Bay Area News Group reporter who specializes in breaking news and narrative storytelling for The Mercury News and East Bay Times. Although this crop of swimmers had never been treated by Shaw the swim coach wouldnt allow that they understood the magnitude of what Hopkins had done for the athletes that came before them. Michael Phelps is the face of the sport and in addition, several other Olympic medalists have trained at the club, among themTheresa Andrews, Anita Nall, Beth Botsford, Katie Hoff and Allison Schmitt. These allegations resulted in the coach's resignation, the club taking unprecedented action, and USA Swimming seemingly taking steps to protect the coach. "He was a monster," said Santa Clara County prosecutor Ray Mendoza. USA Swimming put in place a comprehensive Safe Sport program, which is among the strongest in youth sports. SUU announced her hire in a statement Monday. SPIRE Academy swim athletes recently competed in Washington, DC at The Black History Invitational Swim Meet, which took place February 1719. Turns out this might be a lie as well. The thought of tainting Phelps name by association was perhaps more than the corporate entities cared to handle. That was an awesome start to the season, he said, a really, really awesome start.. Muchnick's initial coverage of the incident began on Dec. 21, 2012, with a post headlined: "Teen was sexually assaulted by teammates at Michael Phelps' North Baltimore Aquatic Club." The statement also refers to Joyces claims asinaccurate, sensational, and issue-driven reporting. The letter then goes into details about the 6 core areas of USA Swimmings Safe Sport program, and says that it is routinely recognized as the best in Olympic sport.. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. March 1, 2023. If you are going to start using legal terms, at least have the brains to be able to follow a premise to its conclusion. During our annual convention, USA Swimming released a Safe Sport Report evaluating our efforts in this important area. As the swimmers left, there was one more thing. Founded She is an alumna of San Jose State where she served as executive editor for the "Spartan Daily." NBAC acted perfectly. From the statement: Because USA Swimming (and therefore its Code of Conduct) was not in existence in 1975, the organization legally had no recourse in the matter.. Szauder also did not respond to previous attempts to reach him. Five former swimmers have suedCanada Artistic Swimming, saying it failed to provide a safe environment and neglected abusive behavior by coaches. ", 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Would dismantling Interstate 980 repair damage to Black neighborhoods? Spoons, scissors and other metal objects used as tapping devices for swimmers to hear underwater are sometimes thrown at athletes by upset coaches. After I broke the story of past sexual impropriety, involving multiple victims at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club (NBAC), Irv proceeded to uncover other episodes of abuse and negligence at NBAC the countrys most famous swim club that will surely become even more disturbing as more details emerge. NBAC wouldnt comment on the case, though one will recall that there was much coaching turnover in the club in the fall of 2011. She announced her resignation from SJSU altogether in an email to some staff members in the athletic department Aug. 29, 2021, but the university did not make an announcement, the Mercury News previously reported. Joyce reports that the victim reported the activities to her club in October of 2011, at which time the impeccably-managed club seems to have taken every appropriate action: they immediately relieved the coach of his duties, they reported him to the police, and they reported him to USA Swimming. A hundred is even more. Rule 304.3.7(ii) addresses any other adult participating in any capacity (whether such adult is a member or not) with regards to sexual conduct. 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. The coaches have molested, fondled and abused dozens of swimmers, according to court records and interviews conducted by ABC News for reports Friday on "World News with Diane Sawyer" and "20/20.". Ormond said in an interview with The Times that Szauder, unhappy with a warm-up at a 2019 competition in China, told the swimmers if we kept swimming like that, he would hit us so hard, we wouldnt know what happened. It was later suggested that Szauder meant he would hit the swimmers with difficult practices, but Ormond said she felt physically threatened. 2020 Concussion Inc. - Author Irvin Muchnick. Nations Capital Swim Club (Potomac Valley) 68,604. Pedro Pardo/Agence France-Presse Getty Images. Swimming wouldnt have any problems if every team did as much. She was part of the team that won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in breaking news for coverage of Oaklands Ghost Ship fire and has been a Pulitzer finalist in feature writing. when he started training at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club at the Meadowbrook Aquatic and Swimmers interviewed described an unhealthy culture of thinness and disordered eating in an event that inevitably foments tension between art and sport. Founded in 1967, Incorporated in 1968, America's #1 Age Group Team Miroslava Germanov contributed reporting from Bratislava, Slovakia. In 2008, USA Swimming gave King a clean bill of health, saying his background screening had been approved. More than a dozen had complained that Shaw, an athletic trainer on campus since 2008, massaged them under their bras and underwear without justification and made them feel uncomfortable. My vote is YES because unless there is a criminal record or somebody sends a report to the LSC or USA Swimming, USA Swimming will never know. SUU is aware of the situation at San Jose State and based on a thorough review, reference checks and standard hiring protocols, the university is confident in welcoming Marie to Thunderbird Athletics, he said in an emailed statement. Now its a matter of accountability, Hopkins said. A San Jose swimming coach, Andy King, 62, was sentenced to 40 years in prison in January after authorities discovered a pattern of sexual abuse that stretched over three decades up and down the West Coast and involved more than a dozen teen female victims. WebConcussion Inc. has reported that Hall of Fame swimming coach Murray Stephens is back as the operator of the Meadowbrook Aquatic Center, home of Michael Phelps original 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. Meadowbrook Swim Club became a favorite spot for Baltimoreans to escape the summer heat. 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. But one does have to wonderif NBAC, arguably the most respected swim club in the world, contacts the national organization to tell them of a former coachs actions and doesnt get a response, then what would incite Colorado Springs into action? 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. The toll, however, has been profound, Hopkins said Saturday, on myself, on my family, on many others. He said he had not yet received the written apology from SJSU that was mandated as part of the settlement. Tim Joyce of WBAL in Baltimore has broken another big story on the front of sexual abuse in swimming, as he claims he has been in contact with a victim who claims to have been sexually abused while at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, home to Michael Phelps and Bob Bowman. 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 At least NBAC handled their business. Go here to see 4,114 Swim Jobs. Later, on April 18, Muchnick posted a blog that named the plaintiff, calling him the "co-sex assault perpetrator" in the incident. Last fall, he was accused by five swimmers of making sexist remarks, weight-shaming athletes and committing other troubling behavior. My key objective here is to let our community heal, she said. "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.". As I said in yesterdays post, Baltimores City Paper published a rather pointless, painting-by-numbers story on the Doe v. Muchnick lawsuit settlement. Southern Utah University Athletic Director Doug Knuth told SFGATE that the department is aware of Tuites history at SJSU but is excited about her hire. Canadian artistic swimmers have made it clear that abusive behavior by coaches and body-shaming began before Szauder became head coach of the national team. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Not true. A subsequent search of Hindson's home turned up more locker room footage and a large selection of child pornography. The fear shared by many in our community is that if this were to happen today and was brought to USA Swimmings attention they wouldnt bring it to the police. Then you say Not true, and then spout several articles from their code of conduct. Baltimore police have found no record of any complaint being passed on yet. In his lawsuit, Hopkins alleged that Tuite had discredited his concerns about Shaw and retaliated against him and other employees. WebIn a series of jarring allegations from several sources, it has been discovered that a former high-level coach with close ties to the North Baltimore Aquatic Club (NBAC) - home to Michael Phelps and other Olympians - was accused of molestation and other inappropriate behavior towards some of his female swimmers while he was coaching elite WebMeadowbrook Aquatic Center, one of three facilities NBAC uses. The story was initially removed from the WBAL website, but has since returned with a note from the editorthat all claims were backed up by unimpeachable sources. In April, in an attempt to generate local coverage of his findings, he emailed. As to USAS, ugh. Williams later researched depression among artistic swimmers. The Spartans lost their first meet Saturday against a formidable team, but Hopkins told the swimmers he was proud of them. Francois-Xavier Marit/Agence France-Presse Getty Images. Still, another one of Hindson's victims, Sarah Rutkowski, now 21, said there are many questions left unanswered. Brisson and Team Canada performed during a qualifying tournament for the 2016 Rio Olympics. To reiterate, USA Swimming, after being notified of a serious allegation didnt act. Tess Howley was among the standouts for the Long Island Aquatic Club (LIAC) earlier this month in East Meadow. The coach wasnt removed by USA Swimming, he resigned his membership. She wrote an award-winning six-part narrative series Hanging: the mysterious case of the boy in the barn, and narrated a companion podcast. Tuite worked at SJSU from April 2010 to September 2021. 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. Tuite responded to the findings in a May 2021 statement put out by SJSU. Its report found experiences of psychological abuse, bullying, neglect, sexual harassment, discrimination, and an overall culture of fear.. Investigative journalism is not peer-reviewed scientific literature. It is a contact sport. You are a twit. It is dangerous for the media of any town or city, no matter how big or small, to be more concerned with protecting the powerful interests in their community rather than with the citizens they are supposed to serve. The highest penalty USA Swimming can invoke is the permanent suspension of membership. Speaking publicly for the first time, the coach and whistleblower on Saturday described thepersonal toll of his decade-long fight to protect female athletes from trainer Scott Shaw, the resistance he encountered from university officials nearly every step of the way, and the relief he felt when the U.S. Department of Justice this week commended his tireless efforts and excoriated the university for largely ignoring them for so long. Please contact us directly if you need legal advice. 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. 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. Despite sex abuse allegations, former California high school coaches continue to work with children, young women An Instagram account created for Canadian swimmers to anonymously share their concerns and experiences has more than 50 responses. If the rumors Ive heard were correct, the reason was pressure from both NBAC and the U.S. Olympic Committees broadcast partner, NBC. On Tuesday, a lawsuit was filed in Montreal by five former elite swimmers, accusing Canada Artistic Swimming, the national governing body, of failing to provide a safe environment and of neglecting abusive behavior by Szauder and previous coaches. According to USA Swimming, the organization only checks for criminal convictions and does not include background interviews or investigations with local police. There were people entrusted with safeguarding our campus and nearly every decision they made, if not every decision they made, was wrong.. CONTACT THE ABC NEWS INVESTIGATIVE TEAM IF YOU HAVE A STORY TO ADD TO THIS INVESTIGATION. Eventually, Peel wrote, she developed an acute generalized anxiety disorder that required three trips to the emergency room in an ambulance, psychotherapy and medication that she still takes. Anastasia Gloushkov Leventhal, 35, competed in four Olympics for Israel. Katie Spada, 28, of the United States said that she was sometimes called a dying whale by a former coach and, at 13, was told I had boobs like Marilyn Monroe and they were getting in the way.. Teresa Ixchel Alonso Garca, 24, who competed for the Mexican national team for 12 years, said that in 2019 she was hospitalized for internal bleeding related to stress from swimming, but was pressured to compete by her coach. The investigator conducts a thorough review to determine if the complaint has merit. In terms of whether or not NBAC heard rumors of prior abuse and didn't act, there is no evidence yet to state such a claim. 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