USA Swimming coaches problems

Once a damaging accusation appears how does the target defend themselves in the court of public opinion. I'm with you, Paul. I doubt there's a coach in the world who is universally adored. There are plenty of swimmers and parents with an axe to grind because of some perceived slight or personality clash with their coach.

we need all real complaints, but we need to be careful with false, vindictive, scapegoating complaints...where does the wrongly accused get his/her reputation back This IS the flip side of this horrible problem. Both are equally life changing in the worst way. It is incredible how smooth and convincing a great liar can be.... Coaches need to be on the watch for these personalities. Stay far away - and NEVER be alone with them.

boil the guilty, be careful about the wrongly accused....for ethical reasons as well as legal ones we need all real complaints, but we need to be careful with false, vindictive, scapegoating complaints...where does the wrongly accused get his/her reputation back however, if guilty then boil

Brian- That is so disgusting. I take solace in knowing that rapists and child molesters are not well received in jail. He'll get his. IMHO, that article had WAY too much detail. I didn't need to know all that. I feel so sorry for the family of this coach. How devastating.

Parts of the article are pretty cringe inducing alright. And Andrew King sounds even worse than Stovall. Despite the gravity of the story I did have to chuckle a little at this: Around May of 2009, according to Firestone, the team received a letter from Contra Costa College saying that it hadn't received pool rent for a year and a half and that Bear Swimming owed it $28,000....Stovall offered no explanation ....But he kept his position as head coach of a nearby Berkeley team, Strawberry Canyon Aquatic Masters. Sort of ironic he was coaching a team called SCAM! No offense to any current swimmers or coaches of that team.

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". 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. I guess I was not aware that there was a widespread problem with USA swim coaches molesting children. I swam as a child and never heard of any complaints, but by the same token, I don't remember complaints about scout masters, teachers and priests. I think that as long as there are pedophiles in society, you can expect that some percentage of them will gravitate toward activities that give them access to children. I would think that the percentage of incidents or complaints would not be greater in swimming than it would be in other children's sports or activities. With regard to the Chuck Weilgus interview, I think it may be unfair to criticize him too much. You first have to remember that at the time of the interview, USA Swimming (according to the story) was a defendant in ongoing litigation. I don't know what the facts are in the case that is pending, but there may be no basis for legal liability against USA Swimming. Asking for and giving an apology for conduct could be a factor in establishing liability. If I were representing USA Swimming in the litigation, I would not have allowed him to give the interview and instead would have issued a written statement to 20/20. "News" shows like 20/20 don't sell advertising by presenting a fair and balanced report. I have three daughters who have all swum on teams. There can be no excuse for this type of behavior; however, I think it is a little unrealistic to think that the national organization for swimming or any other sport can be a the frontline of guarding our kids. The kids, parents and team officials (officers, directors, etc.) are the only people who have direct knowledge of things that go on and all of them should act quickly on knowledge of any inappropriate conduct. This type of conduct should be referred immediately to law enforcement.

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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.

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.

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.