Road to Omaha: Thanks, Dave Zirin. Also, California Country Club Backs Down and Allows Abuse Survivor to Conduct Swimming Clinic

Thank you to Dave Zirin for having me on his Edge of Sports satellite radio show earlier today. The program will be rebroadcast throughout the weekend on Sirius Channel 125 and XM Channel 241; then it will be available on Dave’s website, http://edgeofsports.com.

I must have spiked my coffee this morning, because I forget to mention on the Zirin show that I will be in Omaha for the Olympic Swimming Trials, June 25 to July 2, to write a piece about the sex abuse issue for a national outlet.

There is an important update on the story I passed along a few days ago (https://concussioninc.net/?p=5722) regarding Kristen Lewis Cunnane, Cal’s associate women’s swimming coach, who has spoken out about her own abuse by a middle school physical education teacher. One unjust upshot was that Cunnane’s own team at the Moraga Country Club initially canceled a swimming clinic she was scheduled to conduct there.

But under the pressure of some excellent coverage by the Bay Area News Group and the Contra Costa Times, the country club reversed itself and reinstated the Cunnane clinic. See http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_20807152/moraga-country-club-reverses-decision-cal-swim-coach?source=pkg. (On the right-hand side of the article, look for links to related news stories and editorials.)

This is an excellent model for anyone who wonders whether there can be good outcomes for making headway on the abuse problem in conjunction with the sport’s elevated profile in an Olympic year.

Irv Muchnick