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Sarah Ehekircher, whose story of grooming and abuse by her youth coach in Colorado, Scott MacFarland, was broken and detailed at Concussion Inc. beginning on March 6, will be traveling to Washington to observe the hearings. She has already met with Hinchey and a second meeting is scheduled; additionally, the U.S. Center for SafeSport has opened a follow-up investigation of MacFarland to the one conducted by swimming in 2010.<\/b><\/p>\n
As we’ve reported, Ehekircher also has spoken with the office of her congresswoman, Diana DeGette of Colorado’s First Congressional District, ranking member of the investigating subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and with committee staff investigators. This week’s hearings will take testimony from sports body executives — not from abuse victims. With this in mind, we asked Ehekircher to write about what she stands prepared to testify about in the future.<\/b><\/p>\n
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by Sarah Ehekircher<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I would start by taking members of Congress back to 2010, when I was filled with hope that Scott MacFarland would get banned from coaching.<\/span><\/p>\n I spent five months feeding information to USA Swimming’s in-house counsel. I included names of people I swam with, timelines, and everything else they requested. I was happy to help. I thought they were on my side and were committed to doing the right thing.<\/span><\/p>\n But I couldn’t have been more naive.<\/span><\/p>\n In fact, I was being played. I wouldn’t realize this until I sat down to speak at swimming’s National Board of Review hearing on September 23, 2010.<\/span><\/p>\n I was forced to sit directly across from my rapist. His attorney read into the record letters from friends I had swum with; the attorney had contacted them and turned them against me. These accounts told stories of what a horrible person I was, and how everyone hated me. Even if these accounts were true, they weren’t relevant to the allegations against MacFarland.<\/span><\/p>\n I was contradicted by USA Swimming’s attorney, who was supposed to be on my side. It was surreal listening to this attorney use against me everything I had given USA Swimming. I could not figure out what was going on. Why didn’t USA Swimming try to prove that I did in fact, swim for Scott MacFarland, even after his claim of only having sex with me, after I turned 18, and he was no longer my coach. They had my membership records and access to swim meet results.<\/span><\/p>\n Instead, they produced nothing, changed the code of conduct violation allegation, the night before the hearing, from what they were originally going by, to the concept that there was no code of conduct violation from the time subsequent to my rape. There was no counter argument; they didn’t even call my nearly dozen witnesses, who had been alerted to stand by waiting on a phone, throughout the entire NBOR.<\/span><\/p>\n Nothing.<\/span><\/p>\n I had been betrayed, and basically raped again, by USA Swimming. The hearing was pre-determined, before it even began. Scott was going to be able to continue coaching, and I was a lying, out for money, attention starved-crazy person. I had basically been hit over the head with a baseball bat, I never saw it coming!<\/span><\/p>\n I had spent the years leading up to the hearing in hopes that there would be a time, in the future, that someone would hear the truth, about what really happened to me, and Scott would never coach again. When the USA Swimming SafeSport department was formed in 2010, that time seemed to be at hand, but that didn’t happen. Eight years later, the Safe Sport Act created the USOC’s U.S. Center for SafeSport: another reason to hope, another opportunity to make things right.<\/span><\/p>\n But from my perspective, the U.S. Center for SafeSport is another false hope, another missed opportunity.<\/span><\/p>\n I say this because, although the Center has opened a new investigation of Scott MacFarland, it is following procedures that are the opposite of the transparency now required. For one thing, the Center investigator has told me that the transcript of the 2010 NBOR cannot be released to me because it is barred by a “confidentiality agreement.” There is no such agreement — only an assertion of confidentiality by one of the parties. I never have and never would agree to such a thing. The attorney who has been advising me in this matter, Jonathan Little, makes it clear that it would have been unethical for him to have made an agreement that concealed information from his own client.<\/span><\/p>\n In addition, the SafeSport Center has whittled down the original allegations against MacFarland to one charging him only with having brought “disrepute to the Corporation” under Code of Conduct section 401.1. This trivializes sexual abuse, which is not a public relations problem for the sports bodies; it is a crime against youth athletes and a devastating social problem.<\/span><\/p>\n The Center investigator also argued to me that it cannot “go back in time.” I disagree. One of the very purposes of the Center is to revisit the past and attempt to right past wrongs.<\/span><\/p>\n The bottom line is that as of today, none of my concerns have been addressed, I have not been interviewed, and no documents of any kind have been produced that would prove my case. USA Swimming blames SafeSport. SafeSport blames USA Swimming.<\/span><\/p>\n So, I ask, what are they afraid of? When will USA Swimming finally do the right thing, and do everything they can to make things right with <\/span>all<\/span><\/i> the victims whose abuse the organization enabled?<\/span><\/p>\n In the course of telling my story, I have recounted events outside my direct experience with Scott MacFarland — events that shine light on the sport-wide culture of abuse, denial, and cover-up. For example, as an adult, while on the staff of the American Swimming Coach Association, by executive director John Leonard.<\/span><\/p>\n I also have become privy to information about MacFarland’s misconduct with other athletes he coached, and about his connections with other coaches, including some of the most prominent ones in swimming, who also engaged in these heinous practices. In the near future, I look forward to being able to testify fully to Congress and all other appropriate authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n THE FULL SERIES<\/strong><\/p>\nSarah Ehekircher, Long-Time Coach, Tells of Her Youth Grooming and Abuse by Scott MacFarland, Her ‘Revictimization’ by USA Swimming’s 2010 Investigation, and Her Sexual Harassment by American Swimming Coaches Association Boss John Leonard<\/a><\/h2>\n
Sarah Ehekircher Describes the American Swimming Coaches Association’s John Leonard As the Boss From Hell – And a Creep and Sex Harasser to Boot<\/a><\/h2>\n
ASCA Boss John Leonard ‘Categorically Denies’ Sarah Ehekircher’s Sexual Harassment Allegations; Captive Swimming Industry Publication’s Article Also Smears Ehekircher and Concussion Inc.<\/a><\/h2>\n
What Sarah Ehekircher Says ASCA’s John Leonard Told Her About His Military Career – And What Leonard Said About It in a 2012 Deposition<\/a><\/h2>\n
USA Swimming Chief Chuck Wielgus’s Email Response to Hearing of Sarah Ehekircher’s Grooming and Abuse by Coach Scott MacFarland: ‘My Gosh … I Am Copying Our Legal Counsel …’<\/a><\/h2>\n
EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Center for SafeSport Is Revisiting Sarah Ehekircher’s Complaint to USA Swimming That Coach James Scott MacFarland Groomed and Had Sex With Her Beginning When She Was 17<\/a><\/h2>\n
Congratulations to SwimSwam on Picking Up Our MacFarland-Ehekircher Coverage –<\/a><\/h2>\n
U.S. Center for SafeSport Must Carefully Shadow USA Swimming’s Disgraceful 2010 Hearing of Allegations Against James Scott MacFarland. First Stop: Pro-MacFarland Testimony From His Best Friend – ASCA Hall of Fame Coach Bob Gillett.<\/a><\/h2>\n
Houston Chronicle to Cover U.S. Center for SafeSport’s Reopening of USA Swimming’s Investigation of Sarah Ehekircher’s Grooming-Abuse Allegations Against Coach James Scott MacFarland<\/a><\/h2>\n
James Scott MacFarland – Accused Groomer-Abuser of Sarah Ehekircher – Is Scrubbed at Houston’s Magnolia Aquatic Club<\/a><\/h2>\n
Confusion Surrounds James Scott MacFarland’s Status at Houston’s Magnolia Aquatic Club in Wake of U.S. Center for SafeSport’s New Investigation of Sarah Ehekircher’s Grooming-Abuse Allegations<\/a><\/h2>\n
While the World Watches, Sarah Ehekircher’s Case and Others Move Forward at the U.S. Center for SafeSport<\/a><\/h2>\n
New SafeSport Center Probes Vague Charge Against Scott MacFarland; Abuse Victim Sarah Ehekircher Expresses Skepticism – Also Is Meeting With Congresswoman and USA Swimming Chief<\/a><\/h2>\n
Chris DeSantis on Sarah Ehekircher’s Upcoming Meeting With USA Swimming Chief Tim Hinchey<\/a><\/h2>\n
Scott MacFarland, Sarah Ehekircher’s Groomer-Abuser, Disappears From Website of Houston’s Magnolia Aquatic Club<\/a><\/h2>\n
Sarah Ehekircher’s Statement on Her Groomer\/Abuser Scott MacFarland’s Removal From the Magnolia Aquatic Club<\/a><\/h2>\n