USA swimming was aware that three coaches were sexual predators in the 1980s but neglected to address the problem, according to three laws...
USA swimming was aware that three coaches were sexual predators in the 1980s but neglected to address the problem, according to three lawsuits filed in California by six former swimmers who claim they were abused by those individuals as minors.
The women are believed to be the first to file lawsuits under California's new law extending the statute of limitations for past sexual abuse, according to the Orange County Register.
The three coaches named in the suit — Mitch Ivey, Everett Uchiyama, and Andy King — have already received lifetime bans from the sport. King was convicted of abusing more than a dozen underage female swimmers over a 30-year span, and is currently serving a 40-year prison sentence in California.
In the filing, the six women claim USA Swimming, former executive director Chuck Wielgus, and other officials refused to put an end to the predatory behavior, resulting in an atmosphere of abuse and harassment. Wielgus died in 2017 due to complications from colon cancer.
'I truly believe my life trajectory would have been drastically different if USA Swimming did not have a culture that enabled coaching sexual abuse,' former swimmer Debra Grodensky told the OC Register.
The three coaches named in the suit — Mitch Ivey, Everett Uchiyama, and Andy King (right) — have already received lifetime bans from the sport. King was convicted of abusing more than a dozen underage female swimmers over a 30-year span, and is currently serving a 40-year prison sentence in California. 'I truly believe my life trajectory would have been drastically different if USA Swimming did not have a culture that enabled coaching sexual abuse,' former swimmer Debra Grodensky (left), one of King's victims, told the OC Register
USA swimming was aware that three coaches were sexual predators in the 1980s but neglected to address the problem, according to three lawsuits filed in California by six former swimmers who claim they were abused by those individuals as minors
USA swimming issued a statement in which the organization did not directly deny the allegations.
'We are aware of the information publicly released today in California,' read a USA Swimming statement provided to the Daily Mail. 'We fully support survivors of sexual abuse along their healing journey. USA Swimming's Safe Sport program continues to work with prominent health and education experts to provide meaningful member resources and SwimAssist funding to those in need. The organization and its current leadership remain committed to providing a safe environment and a positive culture for all its members.
'The three named offenders have long been on USA Swimming's list of Individuals Permanently Suspended or Ineligible for Membership due to the allegations of misconduct from the 1980s and 1990s, and the U.S. Center for SafeSport has recognized and honored our bans.'
Grodensky says King sexually assaulted her at swim meets beginning when she was 12, and later quit the sport when the 37-year-old coach asked to marry her at 16. According to the lawsuit, King's predatory behavior was 'well known within Northern California swimming' when he began coaching Grodensky in 1980.
King was arrested in 2009 after a 14-year-old female swimmer told police that he had been molesting her for nearly a year. He pleaded 'no contest' to 30 counts of child molestation involving some victims who were as young as 10.
In the filing, the six women claim USA Swimming, former executive director Chuck Wielgus, and other officials refused to put an end to the predatory behavior, resulting in an atmosphere of abuse and harassment. Wielgus (pictured) died in 2017 after battling colon cancer
Tracy Palmero said she was sexually abused by Uchiyama between the ages of 14 and 17. He ultimately became the US National Team Director in 2006 until Palmero's father fought to have Uchiyama banned from the sport.
Palmero's father later learned that Uchiyama continued to work as 'director of aquatics' at a local country club near the USA Swimming headquarters in Colorado Springs. Longtime USA swimming managing director Pat Hogan was accused of giving Uchiyama a recommendation for that position, according to the Southern California News Group, and was dismissed in 2018 for his handling of allegations of abuse.
At 29, Ivey allegedly began making sexual advances towards one of his swimmers, 15-year-old Noel Moran Quilici, who later had an abortion after he impregnated her in the early 1980s. The couple married briefly when she was 18, but later divorced when she caught him sleeping with a 17-year-old swimmer, according to the OC Register.
Similarly, Suzette Moran (no relation to Quilici) claims she was impregnated by Ivey, who told the then-16-year-old that 'it was her problem to deal with it'
In 1983, she also had an abortion.
'As a result, [Moran] could not swim for eight weeks,' according to the court filing. 'The physical and emotional toll of the abortion and her relationship with Ivey made it extremely difficult for her to train for the 1984 Summer Olympics. As a result, plaintiff did not qualify for the 1984 Summer Olympics, which was devastating for her.'
The abuse within USA Swimming began receiving more attention in recent years. In 2010, ABC's '20/20' reported that 36 of the organizations 36,000 coaches had been banned for sexual misconduct over the previous decade
Moran later became engaged to Ivey when she was 17, but she called off their engagement when she was a freshman in college after Ivey lied about having a relationship with another swimmer.
'Due to Ivey's position of power and control over plaintiff, and the psychological effects imposed upon her by childhood sexual abuse, it took years for plaintiff to realize she was betrayed by her trusted coach,' read the filing.
'By late 1987, USA Swimming and Pacific Swimming knew Ivey had engaged in an intimate relationship with [Ivey] when she was a minor. Despite this knowledge neither organization took any action to ban Ivey from coaching or to warn minor female swimmers and their parents that Ivey posed a threat to them.'
Ivey served on the 1988 Olympic coaching staff and was later fired at the University of Florida in 1993 after he was accused of being sexually involved with and sexually harassing teenage swimmers since the late 1970s. He received a lifetime ban from USA Swimming in 2013, 20 years after his sexual misconduct was first reported.
The abuse within USA Swimming began receiving more attention in recent years. In 2010, ABC's '20/20' reported that 36 of the organizations 36,000 coaches had been banned for sexual misconduct over the previous decade.
No comments