Sex Happens. But Why Is USA Swimming By Far the Worst National Sports Governing Body in Terms of Protecting Children?
The Sick and Sophomoric World of Rick Curl and His Underling Swim Coach, Noah Rucker
August 2, 2012Weekend Reading: Links to ConcussionInc.net’s Coverage of USA Swimming Sex Abuse
August 3, 2012Sex happens. At Olympic Village. On the Hollywood casting couch. After the high school prom. In life.
That is not the story I am telling about USA Swimming. The story of the national sports governing body (NGB) that has brought us Phelps and Lochte and Franklin and Soni – plus an appallingly long list of damaged lives ignored by NBC and other media stenographers – is of widespread and leadership-enabled abuse of the children in our Olympic swimming feeder system.
In 1999, the U.S. Olympic Committee was authorizing 46 NGB’s under the Amateur Sports Act. USA Swimming was the only NBG whose captive insurance company added a “sexual abuse and molestation exclusion” in liability insurance for member clubs.
I’ll pick up on this Monday. Unlike Penn State, the swimming sex scandal involves girl victims, not boys – and many more of both genders on both the perpetrator and victim sides.
Meanwhile, congratulations to Michael Phelps and all Olympic swimming champions – all Olympians, in all sports. A concussion post is coming from here later today.
Irv Muchnick