In USA Swimming’s Scattershot Prosecutions of Abusive Coaches, One Thing Is Clear: Safety of Kids Is Not a Priority

by Irvin Muchnick

Rumors are flying in the wake of USA Swimming’s lifetime ban of “Developmental Coach of the Year” Tim O’Brien. A day after the news leaked, the organization made it official and listed the specific conduct code violations which O’Brien admitted, without a hearing.

Exactly when O’Brien’s “past” infraction occurred is the source of much speculation. The British publication SwimVortex’s is the most intriguing: “USA Swimming collates photos of all major moments, including international Games and championships on its Facebook page. The 2015 World Junior Championships Album is notable for its absence.” See http://www.swimvortex.com/tim-obrien-usa-junior-team-head-coach-development-mentor-of-year-banned-for-life/.

Whatever the timeline, the O’Brien bust fits right into the history of USA Swimming’s long embrace of creep, con man, drunk, and global youth athlete chaperone Brandon Drawz. Just punch “Drawz” into the search engine at this site to read all of Concussion Inc.’s coverage of his Indianapolis arrest and his executive role with the criminally fraudulent National Swimming Center Corporation. We’ll post a collection of headline links shortly.

In case anyone is still wondering whether USA Swimming is cleaning up its act without fear or favor — the answer is no, and Congressional intervention is way overdue — look at the latest with dirty old man Bill Jewell, crony of former Olympic coach Mark Schubert at the Golden West Swim Club in Southern California. At http://usaswimming.org/ViewMiscArticle.aspx?TabId=1963&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en&mid=10011&ItemId=7056, USA Swimming publishes the list of individuals on temporary suspension (not permanently banned, like O’Brien and 130 others). Jewell is one of two on the 21-person list whose conduct code violations are not listed. He is eligible for sanctioned return to pool decks everywhere on June 10.