Con Man James Pantera: Current Head Swim Coach / Applicant to Be Assistant Swim Coach at San Diego’s Sierra High

This morning’s statement by the San Diego Unified School District conflicts with the representation made by federal felon and long-time con man James Pantera on his website. Pantera is a member in good standing of USA Swimming, thanks to a background check system that doesn’t require references for a new coach-owned team — and thanks to the laziness of the highly paid staff in Colorado Springs, which apparently can’t be bothered to look at the first page of the Google search results of someone entrusted to supervise kids for scores of hours a week. With that certification, Pantera has been turning his charm on the San Diego Parks & Rec Department since the fall.

The San Diego school district says Pantera is merely an applicant for an assistant coaching position at Serra High School, pending background checks. Pantera’s own website calls him the current head coach.

Which is it?

And where the hell are the San Diego news media on this story?

Irv Muchnick
tips@muchnick.net