One of the mainstays of the New England Swimming LSC is no more Gator Swim Club has effectively disbanded.
The club, founded by Joe Bernal in 1969, originally went by the name of Bernal’s Gator Swim Club before it was renamed to Gator Swim Club in early 2016.
Shortly after the club was renamed, Bernal was given a lifetime ban by USA Swimming for sexual abuse, and his places in both the ASCA and Fordham Hall of Fames were rescinded.
He died in October 2022, and then this past June, one of his former swimmers, Amanda Le, filed a lawsuit accusing Bernal of sexual abuse and alleging that USA Swimming failed to stop it.
Alex Cronin, who served as an associate head coach at Bernal’s Gator Swim Club beginning in 2005, was also named in the lawsuit, alleging that he had knowledge of Bernal’s behavior and did nothing to stop it or protect the swimmers.
Le’s lawsuit was reported in late June, just as the U.S. Olympic Trials were getting underway, and since then, the club is no longer in operation.
The New England Swimming LSC website still has Gator Swim Club listed as a registered club—the team’s LLC still exists due to the lawsuit, but it is no longer a competitive team.
In Gator’s wake, there is now the Revolution Aquatic Club (Gator East), Commonwealth South (Gator South – formerly Seekonk Aquatics), and the Aquadog Swim Club (Gator West) operating from Gator’s former sites.
Gator also had a North site in Maine, led by Matt Baxter, which reverted back to the Portland Porpoises this year. The team is currently listed as a New England LSC club rather than Maine.
Revolution Aquatic Club was reportedly formed by members of the Gator staff working out of the Bentley University site in Waltham, Mass., following the Amanda Le lawsuit coming to light. Jenny Eaddy is listed as head coach and Chris Morgan, who told SwimSwam he resigned from Gator in the summer, is the Performance Director and National Group Coach.
Commonwealth South operates out of the Ellis Mayers Natatorium at Seekonk High School in Seekonk, Mass. Prior to being renamed Seekonk Aquatics, it was originally part of the southern branch of Gator. Ray Grant, currently listed as the Commonwealth South head coach, served as the General Chair of the New England Swimming LSC for two stints (2004-08, 2012-16). The club only recently changed its name to Commonwealth South after being acquired by the Commonwealth Swim Team.
The Aquadog Swim Club was originally formed as the Western Mass branch of Gator Swim Club in 2022 by coach Tom Avila after he left Bluefish Swim Club. With the ability to do so based on location, the Aquadogs are planning on moving to the Connecticut Swimming LSC in 2025.
Revolution’s coaching bios make no mention of Gator, while Commonwealth South and Aquadog Swim Club acknowledge the prior affiliation.
One new club that has emerged in New England this season is the Sunrise Swim Club, based out of Springfield College’s pool, which has been a new home for some swimmers this season amidst the shuffle.
Back in the 90s, the major players in New England swimming (in addition to BGSC) were the Mass Bay Marlins, Seacoast Aquatics, New England Barracudas, Attleboro Bluefish, Greenwood Memorial, and Ocean State Squids (which might have later merged with Marlins to become the “Bay And Ocean State Squids”?). I might be missing a couple…
Times have clearly changed.
I’m not sure what the point of my comment is, except to tell you that I’m getting old!
Timely article given the New England Seniors meet is underway!
Gator continued to use the BGSC acronym after renaming to gator for meet programs.
Aqua Dawgs continues to use the BGSC moniker. Yikes.
The other Gator sites were all owned by other people not involved with Bernal. It’s not surprising AquaDawgs won’t let that go.
That… doesn’t make any sense. If they don’t give a crap about Bernal, and were never involved with him, why would they hang on to “BCSC,” given all of the associated baggage and drama?
*shrug*
The charter is good through the end of the year, and I have a lot of video games to play when I’m not on deck coaching.
Bill Carline* rather than Caroline
Why are you being Bill’s name into this conversation? He is not a coach or
Owner that I know of?
As irrelevant as New England Swimmng is now, it’s really amazing the amount of drama they have…
Thanks for the reporting!
I hope that this will provide a fresh start, free from Gator’s baggage, and that the new clubs will take SafeSport and athlete safety to heart!
Clearly, you aren’t from New England.
I swam for BGSC in the 90s, but obviously am out of the loop at this point (and have not lived in New England in over 20 years).
As a college swimmer joining the team in the late 90s it was a hoot
Ooo, I’m curious how dysfunctional it seemed from the perspective of an older swimmer.
I only swam for them as an age grouper (then my family moved to a different state and I joined a different team). Bernal seemed harsh and slightly creepy, and encouraged an attitude of superiority amongst his swimmers. That said, he was never my primary coach, and I remember the person who was my primary coach being really great.
Seconded!!