USA Swimming coaches problems

Black eye for sure.:badday: abcnews.go.com/.../story

www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../23965.asp They already do ban coaches that do this stuff. The link above is my article after a conversation with Chuck Wielgus. This occurred prior to the 20/20 video, which is trying to make a parallel to the Catholic Church that just doesn't exist.

I find it amazing that this is the first post on our discussion forum about this issue. Is everyone just so blown away by this that they can't comment or discuss some solutions? USA Swimming began a crackdown on this problem a few years ago. Ask any swim coach - we all know about the screening process. It is obviously a process and one that the swim club organizations have to take responsibility for as well. What really has to happen, is reporting. By swimmers, parents, co-coaches and any other observer of behavior that is even subtly off. No athlete should feel as though they can not report abuse - ever again. Parents and coaches have to continue to talk and explain to the kids so they understand there is help if anything is wrong. On the flip side, those swimmers who have never experienced abuse by a swim coach need to begin a strong voice for the good and the great aspects of our sport. The public needs to hear the good stories about swimming now more than ever.

I am so disgusted and disappointed, and I see Chuck Wielgus as a complete idiot. You are damn right you should apologize! You represent the rest of us (former) and current coaches, parents, and swimmers; and what has been happening for at least 30 years is far beyond "tragic". I learned to swim in 1979 and in 1980 made my first Far Westerns. One of my teammates was 8 (I was 10). At our hotel we couldn't figure out why she was so upset that she couldn't sleep in our room. Our coach said she was just tired. Yea, right. Turns out he was not only molesting her, but he married her mother (the asst. coach) to have 24/7 access to the 8 yo. ***. He ended up going to jail for a long time. This is a far bigger problem than 36 coaches. Those are just the ones that have been caught. USA Swimming better get busy and clean house or I suspect much bigger repercussions than the black eye our sport just took. I too wonder how a lot of these parents "let" this happen. My mom was always around for travel meets and also watching my teammates when their parents couldn't go. Are there really parents out there who knew this kind of thing was happening and did nothing? I'm sure there are. That's a whole other ball of wax. I am just so stunned by that whole story. Not surprised that it was happening, but at the pathetic way that it was handled by USA-S. I know, how about being proactive and trying not to turn the uncomfortable questions back on the reporter. Why not apologize and say, "You know what, we've really screwed up here. We need to take a very close look at the people who have access to our young athletes." Nah, that would have required some common sense. Good night. Thanks for the upset stomach before bed, Chuck.

This really is a problematic area. Swim coaches are almost like parents to kids. When a parent sexually abuses a child, what is the likelihood of that child coming forward while it is going on? Unfortunately, not very likely. Same situation with a trusted adult and a kid. Former teams probably are concerned about getting sued if they say anything negative about a former coach if called during a hiring inquiry. Many teams are uninformed about the true nature of a new coach. Also, some coaches probably land a job while still coaching at another team and the former team is never contacted. The only thing I can think of is for USA Swimming to provide an anonymous whistleblower hotline (in addition to the current system in place that requires a written report be e-mailed to Chuck W.) where swimmers or parents can lodge a complaint against a particular coach and then USA swimming can have the particular team's safety coordinator or other team rep investigate or follow-up. The name of the person making a complaint would not be given by the person making the complaint and he/she should be instructed at the beginning of the conversation when the complaint is made not to give his/her name. I'm sure that false reports would come in, but I suppose this would be better than not having anything in place at all. If such a thing is put in place, swimmers (of all ages) and parents need to be aware of such a hotline. Another thing that could be put in place would be an anonymous follow-up questionaire anwered by parents from a former team. In other words, if a coach were to switch teams, his/her USA coaching certification would automatically expire upon leaving a team until USA Swimming could verify by anonymous questionaires answered by parents on the former team that children are safe with this coach. This is a somewhat drastic measure and would present numerous problems. How many parents would need to answer the questionaire? What about teams that needed a coach on deck immediately? It is too bad that a few bad apples have given our sport a bad name. So many good coaches out there have made such a positive difference for kids. I know my coaches sure made a positive difference in my life. At the same time, sexual abuse affects kids for the rest of their life, so we need to do everything we can to protect them from it. Edit: I think one good thing about the 20/20 report is that it has made parents more aware of the need to be vigilant about the adults working with their children. Also, parents really need to think about how well they know their own kids, how much they communicate with their own kids, and how much positive support they give their own kids. Sometimes a child who is not getting enough support at home will turn to a "trusted" adult who ends up abusing the child. Abusers seem to have a knack at honing in on children who are emotionally neglected at home.

Excellent post Elise. Great idea with the whistleblower idea. Coaches should not be allowed on deck until they have been investigated. I'm sorry, but a coach who has been with NUMEROUS teams should raise some suspicion. You will always get wackos in our society who will be mad at a coach and may falsely accuse them, but hopefully, that would all come out in an investigation. The main idea here is that it does happen and there is NOTHING to prevent it in the first place. Although USA-S does check for criminal convictions, big whoop. There needs to be a thorough overhaul of this screening process. And to whoever asked (somewhere, maybe on FB) why this is coming out now, b/c it is still happening now. A local mom (to us) reported a coach and NOTHING was done. So she was smart and went to 20/20. Now that useless weasel Wielgus will have to do something- I suggest RESIGN !

Interesting how the culture toward this stuff has changed over the years. I remember rumors circulating about Mitch Ivey when I was in high-school (early 80's). People seemed to kind of shrug that stuff off back then. I'm glad that attitudes towards coaches "dating" their young swimmers have (rightly) changed and are now viewed as predatory behavior.

I swam with Mitch as did my husband. He was not a predator. I am not comfortable discussing his private life, but I can say that he was not a predator.

I swam with Mitch as did my husband. He was not a predator. I am not comfortable discussing his private life, but I can say that he was not a predator. I can't claim any special knowledge about Ivey. I'm just glad the attitude towards this kind of thing has changed.

What about other sports? Does anyone think this is just confined to swimming? I doubt it. A few years ago a swimmer got mad at one of my coaches (I swim with an age group team) because he he was going to tell her parents something. So she told her parents that he touched her and she left the team. Truth was she was cutting her self and the coach said to tell her parents. How sick is that? So it can go both ways.