USA Swimming coaches problems

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

slknight — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 09:45:41 GMT

Another new story today: abcnews.go.com/.../story

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

orca1946 — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 11:59:34 GMT

As a 22 year girls H S coach ,I refused to "rub down" our team , even though other teams in our area did so ! Too much can go wrong as to doing better in meets ! Even the girls that saw this on the other teams questioned this !

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

Frank Thompson — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 07:22:18 GMT

I just saw this story in my local newspaper. This is not good for USA Swimming. www.examiner.com/a-2696322~High_ranking_USA_Swimming_official_touted_Uchiyama.html

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

swimshark — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 09:05:21 GMT

Another law suit filed. The coach, Aaron was my coach for about 8 months last year. He and I didn't get along at all (he told me I was a waste of lane space and a negative influence on the kids - HA - I'm not in the paper over bad things!) so I left and Im now with another age group team. Rob was hired by Aaron this past Sept. www2.insidenova.com/.../

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

Redbird Alum — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 05:18:55 GMT

When I was a USA Coach, I was also an employee of the YMCA. Our Y had us attend a one hour seminar held at the Y every year that specifically adressed the issue of child abuse. There were certain guidelines in place that we were to follow to avoid a false allegation of sexual abuse. The ones I could remember were as follows: 1. A coach is not to give an athlete a ride home. 2. If a parent is late to pick up a child, two coaches are to remain until the parent or other responsible guardian listed on an appoved pick-up list arrives. 3. A coach is not to travel alone to a meet with an athlete. 4. When talking to an athlete, have another coach present. 5. Communicate through the parent as much as possible. Anyway, I hope now that this issue has really gotten a ton of attention, clubs will be sure that they have very specific guidelines in place to protect coaches. The bottom line was to avoid being alone with an athlete. Not a bad list. In fact, if the USA Swimming coach was brought on board in the last few years, they were exposed to this list, provided they follow the registration process... All USA Swimming coaches must pass a background check every two years, and in the second year there is an extensive training video/online materials/book test that must be passed to maintain USA coaching status. This material contains very similar advice to your list when dealing with children, and also covers differences in dealing with children at different stages of their development though young adult-hood. Parents should make it their business to ensure any coach/teacher/advisor of their children is properly credentialled. I have no problem sharing my credentials with any parent.

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

swimshark — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 07:36:35 GMT

The team I swam for my last two years in HS did not have oodles of people going to big meets. I went with one other swimmer (male) and our coach (also male) to Junior Nationals twice when I was 16. When I was 17, I went alone with my coach to Senior Nationals twice. My parents didn't come to any of those meets. This was a different era, obviously. But it does put a pretty significant extra financial (and sometimes logistical) burden to go to such meets with a small team, if one or both parents need to come too.. Nationals that just happened in Orlando a few weeks ago had 4 from my section of Curl 2 males, 2 females and the head (male) coach. No oodles either. In HS the 35 year old band director was having an affair with my classmate/ drum major/ 1st chair bassonist. A bunch of us in band talked about it but I don't know that any of us really believed it was true 100%. Two months after graduation, his wife found out it was true and divorced him. My classmate was 17 and had just graduated. Her parents got a restraining order but once she turned 18, she married him. Fast forward 20 years and he's been through a few schools as the band director and is now in Naples, FL directing. He is accused of sexually assaulting a 15 year old in his house. He's still married to my former classmate. He is arrested and all the stuff from 20 years ago comes out. Seems nothing in his background check showed the restraining order or problems he had in 1988. Why?! It could have prevented this from (allegedly) happening again. So if something like this could happen to a teacher, what's to say it wouldn't happen easily to an organization like USA-S where the coaches are employed by the teams and not the organization?

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

Former Member — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 06:13:46 GMT

Of course the police are the appropriate investigators upon complaint and I don't care who apologizes. What is needful is that all adults who have a role with these clubs (coaches, officials, parents etc) take responsibility to keep their eyes and ears open, get educated to warning signs and commit to prevention.

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

Former Member — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 06:08:00 GMT

God ordained moral authority or papal perfection? Only if we talk about FINA...

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

Former Member — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 13:33:26 GMT

As a father of a 9 year old little girl, stories like this sicken me to the core. There is a fundamental *blip* in some people's brains that makes them forget that certain behaviors are immoral and unacceptable (see the current crisis with the Church, now the Swim Coaches, and even the cases of female teachers and young male students). Maybe there's a chemical associated with that behavior that is missing, maybe it's in abundance...I don't know, but all I know is that it's wrong. I love swimming. I love watching people swim. I love helping people learn how to swim. I was a lifeguard all throughout high school and college, I was also a swim instructor and a competitive swimmer. I've always thought about coaching a swim team, but so far the opportunity and the time to create such an opportunity has not presented itself. When I go to a public pool to swim my workout, if the lanes are full of age-groupers and lap swimmers and masters folks, I will sit on the side and observe. I can be watching a 45 year old man doing butterfly and thinking "You know, his kick timing is off...I wonder if I should tell him...", or I could be watching a 10 year old girl doing freestyle and thinking "That coach should work with her on getting her elbows higher..." However in a situation like that, I usually get odd looks from parents when they realize I'm there to swim, but I'm not swimming yet. Then they see me watching people swim, and maybe they think I'm trying to pick up tips. If they see me watching the kids swim, I can only imagine what they think of me. I guess what I'm trying to say, is that I hope these reports don't cast a black shadow on all males who would like to get into swim coaching at some point. As I said before, I love swimming, I love to watch swimming, I love to help people learn how to swim and swim better. The whole situation falls back onto the personal responsibility and awareness of the coach. No one-on-one meetings with swimmers. If you have something to say that cannot be said on the deck during practice, you better have a second coach or a parent involved. Also, any parent that agrees to let their child go on a week long stay in another state with their coach, alone, for a swim meet...well, they're either too trusting, or they're oblivious. If my daughter were swimming and her coach wanted to take her to another state for a meet, even for a day-trip, you bet your sweet hiney that I'd be taking a day off and going along - regardless of how long the trip was or how much I trusted that coach. I'd want to be there for my own personal reassurance, and also to give my child the support that a parent should be there to provide.

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

Former Member — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:49:49 GMT

There should never be a situation where an adult coach is ever alone with a child, same sex or different sex, period. nor should a young swim coach be left alone with one of those cougar swim moms! (you know the ones i'm talking about)

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

Karen Duggan — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:30:57 GMT

Big Irish Ape- I had the same thought too. Who on earth would let their child go with a coach, across the country, for a week? Although I can honestly say that I know of at least 5 coaches that I would completely trust with my children. However, deep as my trust is though, I still wouldn't let my children travel alone with them for a week long swim meet. That would be hugely irresponsible on my part (IMHO).

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

smontanaro — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:22:07 GMT

Also, any parent that agrees to let their child go on a week long stay in another state with their coach, alone, for a swim meet...well, they're either too trusting, or they're oblivious. Or in denial? About ten years ago a friend of one of my kids stepped in front of a car when they were both high or drunk. This friend broke his femur in the accident. We had been dealing with drug and alcohol problems with our own son for awhile and thought we should say something to the friend's mom. She, even though a recovering alcoholic herself, refused to believe that her son was abusing drugs and alcohol. As the Rockman said (YouTube- The Point), "You see what you want to see and hear what you want to hear." Skip

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

no200fly — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 11:15:30 GMT

Also, any parent that agrees to let their child go on a week long stay in another state with their coach, alone, for a swim meet...well, they're either too trusting, or they're oblivious. If my daughter were swimming and her coach wanted to take her to another state for a meet, even for a day-trip, you bet your sweet hiney that I'd be taking a day off and going along - regardless of how long the trip was or how much I trusted that coach. I'd want to be there for my own personal reassurance, and also to give my child the support that a parent should be there to provide. I am interested if your feelings would be different if the coach were female? I remember when I started swimming there were a series of Jr. Olympic meets with qualification for each successive meet up to the National Jr. Olympics. I qualified for the regional meet and my parents really didn't have the money to go and neither could take off work to go, so I went with my coach and the other flyer (from another team) who qualified to go. I think I was 13 or 14 at the time and neither at the time nor now do I think there was anything wrong with it. I am blessed to not have the financial worries that my parents did while I was growing up and either my wife or I can usually go to any of our kids events. I don't know that I would have a problem with them traveling to a meet with their coaches (both female). I don't know about a week long stay, but I don't think I would have a problem with a weekend meet. When my youngest daughter was in the 7th grade she participated in an exchange program with a school in Mexico where she stayed for a week at a child's home in Mexico and the girl from Mexico later stayed in our home for a week. We believed that she had the maturity to avoid inappropriate situations and to tell us if she ever felt uncomfortable. I do worry that we may sometimes be overprotective of our children. I know when we grew up, we roamed the neighborhood with the instruction to be home when the street lights came on. We rarely let our kids out of our sight when they were young.

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

smontanaro — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 10:39:42 GMT

Unlike a church, where priests are employees of the church. Most coaches aren't employees of USA Swimming, they are employees of clubs, schools, businesses, & non profits. These organizations should have a screening process in their hiring practices to prevent this type of thing from happening. Due to their size and (mostly) volunteer nature many local swim clubs probably lack the resources and/or skills necessary to develop such screening practices without some outside assistance. Perhaps USA Swimming can provide tools/guidelines for clubs to use when hiring coaches. I suspect such guidelines would have to come with disclaimers out the wazoo to keep USA-S off the hook should a club hire a coach who later turns out to be a pedophile. Skip

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

Former Member — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 09:02:36 GMT

diligence and vigilance will help, but no cure all www.cnn.com/.../

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

no200fly — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 07:18:45 GMT

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

Former Member — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 05:33:46 GMT

There have been some comments here that seem to try to absolve USA Swimming of responsibility. While I think the ultimate responsibililty is local, to the extent that USA swimming certifies coaches and endorses local teams they share in the liability. I'm not an attourney and that much is obvious to me. Any organization that has capable risk management should identify this as well. And while this puts USAS in a very difficult position in terms of enforcement, they still have to have clear expectations of conduct. And when an accusation gets dumped in their lap, they have to respond in a fashion that assures safety.

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

gobears — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 04:50:22 GMT

What if the offender is a day care worker? Should the national association of day care workers apologizes? What if the offender is a teacher? Unlike a church, where priests are employees of the church. Most coaches aren't employees of USA Swimming, they are employees of clubs, schools, businesses, & non profits. These organizations should have a screening process in their hiring practices to prevent this type of thing from happening. Each org should have a code of conduct to prevent this from happening, like BSA's 2 deep leadership. But unfortunately if there's a determined offender, they will figure out a way. Agreed. The attempt to draw a parallel between USAS and the Catholic church is ridiculous also. USAS has never claimed god-ordained moral authority or papal perfection. If USAS has had their heads in the sand, they need to learn from mistakes and make adjustments. Trying to argue this is a scandal the likes of what's gone on in the Catholic church is just silly.

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

Chris Stevenson — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 04:23:17 GMT

Does traveling alone with coach happen that often? Perhaps just on very small teams? My kid has done a lot of travel meets over the years, but she travels by bus, stays in the team hotel with other girls and is heavily chaperoned. The team I swam for my last two years in HS did not have oodles of people going to big meets. I went with one other swimmer (male) and our coach (also male) to Junior Nationals twice when I was 16. When I was 17, I went alone with my coach to Senior Nationals twice. My parents didn't come to any of those meets. This was a different era, obviously. But it does put a pretty significant extra financial (and sometimes logistical) burden to go to such meets with a small team, if one or both parents need to come too. I am interested if your feelings would be different if the coach were female? Maybe I'm wrong, but doesn't it seem like there are very few female head coaches? If so, I wonder why that is true? (I see a number of female assistant coaches locally, though.) Especially since there seem to me to be more girl than boy swimmers.

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

ande — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 04:18:13 GMT

Should it be the responsibility of USA swimming to apologize for coaches who had sex with minor athletes (& adult athletes) or should it be the responsibility of the local authorities who prosecute them as criminals? Banning convicted offenders from contact with minors should be in the terms of the offenders penalty? What if the offender is a day care worker? Should the national association of day care workers apologizes? What if the offender is a teacher? Unlike a church, where priests are employees of the church. Most coaches aren't employees of USA Swimming, they are employees of clubs, schools, businesses, & non profits. These organizations should have a screening process in their hiring practices to prevent this type of thing from happening. Each org should have a code of conduct to prevent this from happening, like BSA's 2 deep leadership. But unfortunately if there's a determined offender, they will figure out a way. It's horrible that it's happened and I'm sure there are many more situations where the abused remained silent & the offenders never been caught. I know of a case where a coach was coaching an adult athlete & left his wife to be with the athlete & they are still married to this day. Alright, USA Swimming. Yes, you should apologize. Step up the protection of our youth and ban these idiots who think they can get their jollies out on the youth of America. Do not become like the catholic church and try to sweep this BS under the rug. Take charge and accept the problems and DEAL WITH IT!

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

aquageek — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 03:58:47 GMT

Does traveling alone with coach happen that often? Perhaps just on very small teams? My kid has done a lot of travel meets over the years, but she travels by bus, stays in the team hotel with other girls and is heavily chaperoned. Our kids would argue overly-chaperoned! There should never be a situation where an adult coach is ever alone with a child, same sex or different sex, period.

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

ourswimmer — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 02:54:47 GMT

Also, any parent that agrees to let their child go on a week long stay in another state with their coach, alone, for a swim meet...well, they're either too trusting, or they're oblivious. Or maybe the parents thought the coach was a family friend rather than just a professional who served their child, and were absolutely devastated when the coach abused that relationship. The parents could just be dummies, but I don't think the story gives enough information to justify that conclusion. There have been some comments here that seem to try to absolve USA Swimming of responsibility. While I think the ultimate responsibililty is local, to the extent that USA swimming certifies coaches and endorses local teams they share in the liability. Agreed. There are lots of things that the umbrella organization can do to reduce the odds that coaches in its programs will harm athletes, beyond just responding to specific complaints. Several posters have given examples (training, rules). I haven't seen anything here that suggests that USA-S is actually failing to do any of these things, or is doing a worse job than any other youth sports organization, although of course they might be.

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

The Fortress — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 01:02:03 GMT

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

funkyfish — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 10:16:33 GMT

Here's a link to an article that ran last week in the East Bay Express, a free weekly distributed in Berkeley, Oakland and the rest of the east side of the SF Bay detailing a recent local incident: www.eastbayexpress.com/.../Content Fair and balanced reporting? The article seemed a bit slanted to me. Not saying abuse doesn't occur, but based on the tone of the article it seems that if your child grows up having swam for US Swimming and doesn't get molested, then they were one of the lucky ones. Frankly I'm surprised that the girl's parents agreed to let her go with the coach by herself.

RE: USA Swimming coaches problems

no200fly — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 05:26:49 GMT

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