In 2010, and in the wake of an investigation by ABC’s 20/20, International Swimming Hall of Famer David Berkoff painstakingly compiled a list of swimming coaches and other figures in the sport, throughout the world, who were accused of sex abuse and other misconduct. Berkoff included cites to the publication of these allegations. During the same period, he was appointed to the board of directors of USA Swimming.
This year, in a lawsuit by swimmer Jancy Thompson, Berkoff’s list became a public record. I am now publishing that list; it can be downloaded at http://muchnick.net/berkofflist.pdf.
In publishing the Berkoff list, I am motivated by the goal of further and redundantly documenting cases of youth coach sex abuse. This publicity could help prevent future victims, such as those of coaches Christopher Johnson in Tennessee and Kenneth Fuller in Pennsylvania, which were reported in the earlier item today on this blog.
In his deposition in the Thompson case, Berkoff said he had emailed his list to Susan Woessner, USA Swimming’s director of safe sport. Berkoff testified that he did not have further communication with Woessner about this matter, and he did not know how she and USA Swimming had proceeded to use his list.
Neither Berkoff, Woessner, nor USA Swimming executive director Chuck Wielgus has responded to my recent voicemail, email, or fax messages.
Some further notes:
Irv Muchnick
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