A Fargo, North Dakota swim coach who made headlines in 2018 for his questionable coaching tactics has been arrested on allegations of sexual contact with a minor.
Hehn was booked into Cass County Jail in North Dakota on Thursday on a charge of gross sexual imposition with a victim under 15 years of age.
Hehn was fired as the head swim coach of the West Fargo High School girls’ swim team in 2018 after posting a video of a swimmer wearing a weighted belt in the water and appearing to struggled, which was considered unsafe.
Now Hehn, 38, has been charged with a much more serious crime. The U.S. Center for SafeSport does not yet list Hehn in its database of suspended coaches. In 2018, USA Swimming told SwimSwam that Hehn was not a member.
A 2008 and 2012 Olympic Trials qualifier, Hehn swam collegiately at Indiana University. He finished 30th in the 200 breaststroke and 31st in the 100 breaststroke at the 2008 NCAA Championships, 54th in the 100 breast at the 2008 Olympic Trials, and 139th in the 100 breast at the 2012 Olympic Trials.
Hehn posted a video on his Instagram account on deck, in the competition pool, and in the VIP section at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials.
Update: USA Swimming told SwimSwam on Saturday afternoon that Hehn was not credentialed for the meet and should not have had access to the pool deck.
If anyone from SwimSwam would like to discuss how USA Swimming/SafeSport responded to our concerns in 2022 about him, I’d happily talk. If the accusations are legit and if it was a swimmer, things need to change. See below in response to him swimming with girls he traumatized just a couple years earlier.
Your email was forwarded to me. Thank you for reaching out about this.
Mr. Hehn has not been a coach member of USA Swimming since 2014 however he is currently a registered athlete which does mean that he is able to enter into meets to swim.
As he is an adult athlete he is required to follow the rules of the Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policy.… Read more »
Thanks Bobby for the note. I’ll have someone reach out to you ASAP.
Let’s wait to see if it was a swimmer. If it is, let’s proceed ASAP. Even if it’s not, let’s proceed.
If anyone from SwimSwam wants to talk to me, I would happily talk to them. USA Swimming and SafeSport weren’t concerned about him since “he is required to follow the rules of the Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policy”. I have emails from 2022 stating the concerns many of us had with him swimming at the ND State Club meet with many of the girls he traumatized just a couple years prior when he was their high school coaching. If these allegations are true, and if they involved a swimmer, things have to change.
“…USA Swimming has not responded to a SwimSwam email asking whether or not he was credentialed to attend the meet or how he got access to athlete portions of the venue.”
@Braden Keith, I believe he’s the brother of Br*tt Ha*ke’s fiancée Keri Hehn.
During Trials, all three plus that YouTuber from England and his dad got access to the pool, since Ha*ke became Tim Hinchey’s friend.
He credentialed them as media and appeared on their live show during the first night of the meet.
You censor his name like he’s a criminal lol
Yes, what you’ve said is more-or-less true, however Ronald Hehn was not credentialed and USA Swimming says he should not have been on deck, but that he must have snuck on with an athlete credential (their words).
Sounds about right for his behavior.
The explanation from Dressel GOAT is much more believable than the explanation from USA Swimming.
I think the two explanations are overlapping, with the exception that Dressel GOAT’s explanation presumes he was credentialed as part of that crew, whereas USA Swimming’s explanation is that they allowed him to follow that crew around using someone else’s credential.
The big difference I see is that according to Dressel GOAT Ha*ke got Hehn the credential; USA Swimming doesn’t mention any involvement by Ha*ke. Given the relationship between Ha*ke and Hehn’s sister, I believe Dressel GOAT’s explanation and that USA Swimming is being disingenuous.
USA Swimming is generally a poorly-run organization, but it would be unusual for them to flat out lie that way. They would obscure, avoid, duck, tell me it’s none of my business…but it would be unusual for them to lie about something that was so verifiable by so many people.
I’m not saying they’re lying – I’m saying they’re being less than candid (or just incredibly naive).
Which they are free to do now that Tim is not there to be asked about it.
Honest question: how close were they checking credentials as people walked in?
I only ask because I know when I was walking around through the different sections, the worker sitting at the given post would kinda glance at it (and I’m guessing really was only looking for the section number to match on the credential, not WHO it was) quickly and not much more. Then again, I was walking around enough for long enough that there was enough recognition between me and the workers at the given sections usually over time, so I might have a conflated view of the process for others.
That was very dependent on the individual at the post.
Annnnd let’s see what’s happening up in North Dakota…
Oh, I see.
This is the same guy who swam at Minnesota Senior state champs, prelims and finals, even the last couple years, taking places and titles from high school swimmers. Most college swimmers joining this meet do prelims and then scratch out.
He always has had a vibe on deck, swimming for a club of one and chatting up swimmers in a way that made a lot of coaches, parents, and swimmers uncomfortable. And then there was his defiant approach to the weight belt swim video.
Apparently that wasn’t the only thing he took from high school swimmers.
joke in hella bad taste, or at least much too soon man
Yeah, I swam an LSC champs one year at age 30 when I needed USA-S times to go to Sectionals, but definitely just swam prelims and scratched out of finals…
This is scary! I swam against this guy at a masters meet this summer and December!!
I hope USMS takes note of this guys record.
I do believe innocent until proven guilty, but until this is settled I am very concerned!
Makes me a little extra proud that I ran him down for a win the last race of spring Nats last year!
Pretty sure his videos and pics from the Trials pool are from USMS event held there right after Trials this summer… he has still been actively swimming in Master’s meets and nationals, etc.
There was no Masters meet at the Olympic Trials pool that I’m aware of. USMS Nationals were held at the IU Natatorium.
Yes, USMS Nationals were going on at the Nat the same week as trials.
Corect. However, there was an “event” advertised to Masters swimmers where they could pay a lot to swim in/tour the Olympic Trials pool, maybe on the last day of Olympic Trials when there was no prelims session. I’m guessing that is what Swimming101 is referring to.
You’re trying really hard to justify BH clearly sneaking him on deck because BH and TH became besties when they bonded over their toxic personalities.
If this were that event they wouldn’t have been the only ones on deck, and that event didn’t include swimming in the competition pool.
That is for sure not correct and had nothing to do with TH.
Ahh jeez…this being the internet, of course someone would find a way to interpret a neutral post as defending Hehn, somehow. Not trying hard for anything and don’t care for the guy or why/when he was there, just adding some potential info.
(And not a lot of Masters swimmers wanted to pay the obnoxious amount, so it wasn’t crowded).
He for sure did not pay for that.
Yeah, this was the Masters thing I was talking about…
https://www.usms.org/events/national-championships/pool-national-championships/2024-pool-national-championships/2024-spring-national-championship/2024-spring-nationals-olympic-trials-pool-swim
But it was a guess… I don’t actually have knowledge of it. Sounds like other people know more!
Yeah, this was the Masters thing I was talking about…
https://www.usms.org/events/national-championships/pool-national-championships/2024-pool-national-championships/2024-spring-national-championship/2024-spring-nationals-olympic-trials-pool-swim
But it was a guess… I don’t actually have knowledge of it. Sounds like other people know more!
Also it looks like the picture was just cropped in too. You could clearly see in the original article he was wearing a Cavaliers shirt. Don’t think he has any tires to the VA program though, but was just waiting for the comments to begin!