What’s Ahead in the George Gibney / USA Swimming Investigation
February 26, 2015BREAKING: Arvada (Colorado) Police Say George Gibney Left North Jeffco Swim Team As Early As 1995, Following Sexual Harassment Incident And Exposure of His Irish Past
February 27, 2015
Look for a major media hit Sunday on our Freedom of Information Act request for federal government files on rapist Irish and American swim coach George Gibney – focus of our recent coverage.
But let’s not forget Gibney’s compadre in global swimming abuse: Alex Pussieldi of Brazil, then of Florida, and now evidently of both Brazil and Florida.
Concussion Inc. published nearly 80 articles on Pussieldi between from February through June of last year; the links are collected at https://concussioninc.net/?p=8652. Later today we’ll publish a fully updated compilation of links.
Pussieldi, of course, is the coach who in 1999 wandered onto the staff of the Fort Lauderdale Swim Team of the late Hall of Fame coach Jack Nelson (who himself is clearly established as having molested Diana Nyad). In 2004 the team conspired with the city of Fort Lauderdale, its police, USA Swimming, and the Sun Sentinel newspaper to cover up the circumstances of Pussieldi’s departure, and of multiple reports of his Peeping Tom video practices and of a collection of videos of his own sex with underage boys.
Pussieldi went on to coach for another nine years in South Florida, before shutting down his Davie Nadadores club in the face of a suspension and hefty fine by USA Swimming’s regional affiliate.
Roberto Caragol, Pussieldi’s former associate at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, is in federal prison in Miami for a bust on molestation and child pornography charges by a multi-agency task force, spearheaded by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, that evidently didn’t bother to investigate Caragol’s known associates.
Pussieldi moved right along to become the face of swimming journalism and TV coverage back in his native country. It may be hyperbolic to say he “fled” back to Brazil, since property tax records show that his bill to Broward County for his house in Fort Lauderdale was paid on time by last November, and Pussieldi remains the owner of record.
It would even be wrong to say that Pussieldi’s disgrace has seriously impacted his career. As with Bill Cosby, Pussieldi’s sordid history seems both known and unknown.
Last month the Associated Press quoted Pussieldi, authoritatively and at length, commenting on the doping scandal in Brazilian swimming just as the country prepares to host the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The article by the AP’s Rio-based sportswriter Stephen Wade is viewable at http://www.usnews.com/news/sports/articles/2015/01/28/doping-case-gives-unwanted-attention-to-olympic-host-nation.”
(We left a message for Wade at what appears to be a good email address for him, and we will publish whatever comment we receive from him.)