Swim Coaches in Trouble

Then again its US Masters not USA Swimming.Unwelcome sexual advances or other inappropriate sexually oriented behavior or actions are not acceptable in U.S. Masters Swimming just in USA Swimming; USMS rule 402.4.6.

402.4.6 is a bad code for USMS to have on the books because it implies that USMS is prepared to actually do something about any such behavior. Nothing more preposterous could have been said. The behavior, since it presumably involves 2 adults (unlike USA Swimming) is best dealt with by the individuals, club, LMSC or law enforcement, depending on how lurid or persistent the behavior might be. Thinking that the USMS NBR could halt, modify or in any meaningful way affect this kind of behavior is just dreaming. An NBR case usually takes a minimum of 8 months, often going a year or more. There is no such thing as swift justice in the USMS NBR, making ruling on such a case pointless, since the damage is done and the perpetrator could be long gone, beyond reach of the NBR or USMS The current language was inserted in 2010 as a feel good measure to show USA Swimming that we were doing something-anything to be in solidarity when so many predatory cases came to light. 402.4.5 and other parts of the section handle all of the things that USMS needs to deal with. Although sexual behavior is not specifically stated, neither is murder, jaywalking or robbery, all of which could be inferred in one or more of the codes of conduct.

Oh great there's a swim meet in Mission Viejo this Sunday. Then again its US Masters not USA Swimming. However, these issues are not limited to USA Swimming. I know that on a particular USMS team, any new female member will get hounded by one of the coaches, until she usually leaves. The team praises the coach, oh how great, how wonderful, and lets the now former member slip away. If this is happening, the easiest and fastest way to make it stop is to shine a light on it. Otherwise it is just fiction.

Mitch Ivey, famed swim coach, banned for sexual misconduct Virginia Swim Coach Charged With Taking Indecent Liberties With a Child

No public explanation why swim coach Shoulberg out at GA Shoulberg: “I haven’t done anything wrong”

This is one thread that I would like to see end... because the problem is stopped. I hate the way it keeps coming back with new reports of problems.

This is one thread that I would like to see end... because the problem is stopped. I hate the way it keeps coming back with new reports of problems. I agree. The machinations of a few Masters swimmers will not change anything about the long-standing issues between adult male coaches and *** or teenage female swimmers. There is often an intense relationship that occasionally crosses the moral line of acceptance, as well as the legal line of statutory rape or sexual harassment. It is a tiny relative number of coaches that succumb to their weakness and the vast majority pay for it with withering scrutiny. The original poster can lock this thread at any time. Until he does, we can only surmise that he has not had enough of this topic, even though it has nothing to do with Masters swimming directly.

This is one thread that I would like to see end... because the problem is stopped. I hate the way it keeps coming back with new reports of problems. What do you mean by the problem is stopped? Is it because the coach's behavior has already been brought to light by the media? Just curious

What do you mean by the problem is stopped? Is it because the coach's behavior has already been brought to light by the media? Just curious The problem is coaches taking advantage of young kids, that's what needs to stop.

I don't think the problem's stopped. I think there are many who haven't been caught. There has to be a some USMS swimmers who were victims & suffer in silence. Perhaps so. Do you think you will find them on the forums? Just how do you think USMS should go about investigating the atrocities promulgated by these coaches? A friend of mine & her sister were victims of a coach who hasn't been caught. She said she's made peace, forgiven him & moved on. She said her sister said "He ruined my life." This coach was never caught, he retired from coaching, he's well thoguht of in his community and has a pool named after him. As I have said before, if you and/or the victims are not willing to out the coach, it is as if it never happened at all. So that episode fiction until it is aired publicly. This is one of the problems (and unfortunate coverups) of the entire scenario, that fact that the victims are willing , even after many years, to let the perpetrator get away with an illegal act, maybe because the victim feels somehow partly at fault, when she is not. The problem isn't over, USA swimming now has SAFE SPORT, families might be more likely to find out and report and law enforcement might be more motivated to pursue and prosecute, but culprits have to be caught and victims (who might not think of themselves as victims) have to find the courage to speak up and when a child does, the adults around the child need to help them do the right thing. I wish this was over. The base problem will never be over. Young athletic girls, dripping wet in barely any clothing, coached by young men (mostly), several hours per day, creates an atmosphere ripe with temptation that is difficult to resist for some coaches. Considering the size of USA Swimming (400,000), it is frankly amazing that this doesn't happen more often.