A former swim coach with the North Texas Nadadores is being charged with criminal negligence connected to a 13-year-old swimmer’s drowning in June of 2016, according to the local ABC affiliate.
Tracey Boyd was coaching with the North Texas Nadadores at the time, though she’s no longer with the team, per the ABC story. A grand jury has charged Boyd with abandoning or endangering a child by criminal negligence.
That stems from a June 20, 2016 incident in which a 13-year-old girl, who was a member of the team, was pulled from the water unconscious during an early morning practice. A different coach on deck performed CPR, but himself collapsed with heart attack symptoms. The girl was rushed to a medical facility and later airlifted to a different facility, but passed away later that day.
There isn’t much precedent for coaches being held legally responsible for athletes who die during practice. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that it could find just two in recent years – Boyd and a Kentucky high school football coach who was charged with reckless homicide when a sophomore collapsed and died of heat stroke during practice on a 94-degree day. That football coach was acquitted of the charges. You can read an interview with that football coach in the Star-Telegram here.
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