This morning on the way to work, to the shock of even us at SwimSwam, NPR broadcasted a nationwide radio report on the status of the USA Swimming sexual abuse scandal and their SafeSport program.
The report traveled back and covered, at a high level, to 2010, when the stories first started making national airwaves, including covering topics like Rick Curl. They spoke with Bob Allard, the attorney representing many of the victims and alleged victims, and Chuck Wielgus, the chief of USA Swimming.
The context of the report was around USA Swimming’s independent review of the SafeSport program (which can be read about here) timed against the upcoming meeting on Wednesday with U.S. Representative George Miller to discuss sexual abuse both in swimming and other youth sports.
There wasn’t a ton of new information in the report. Wielgus denied that the timing of the independent investigation was connected to the groups meeting with Miller. NPR did manage to get a rare recorded Wielgus interview, which is a plus for the report.
The big news, though, is that the saga is back in the eye of national news media, which we saw three years ago pushes for a lot of momentum and change. Listen to the embeded report above.
Pedophile enablers whether they be USA Swimming, Penn State, religious leaders, educaters they must be held just as accountable as the accused pedophiles/ child molesters themselves like Sylvain Kustyan, swim coaches, Ariel Castro, Jerry Sandusky, etc. This is because without the complicity of enablers the depraved predators could not continue to prey upon our innocent children for years. Sandusky and Castro are now safely behind bars. Unfortunately most swim coaches seem to have gone unpunished. Sylvain Kustyan, who has been formally charged with two counts each of 1st Degree Sodomy and Sexual Abuse of a ten-year-old little boy, fled to avoid imminent arrest. Kustyan, formerly of Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Hermin/ Mazingarbe, France, is currently a fugitive from the law. The… Read more »
In my opinion Wielgus misdirected and avoided the truth throughout the entire interview. His quotes were probably scripted for him by Ground Floor Media (GPM), a PR Firm in Colorado USA Swimming recently hired.
USA Swimming has acknowledged in an internal memo to select recipients at USA Swimming that they are paying GPM $200,000 to train Wielgus and others on how to handle questions such as the ones NPR posed. Other PR services from GPM will be provided as well.
to wit: NPR asked Wielgus if the allegation of covering up cases of misconduct and not taking the issue of sexual abuse seriously, he replied without answering the question and coyly admitted if you read between the lines that he… Read more »
They’re taking credit for Rick Curl being punished!??!
That’s fairly shameless. Like, wow.
“Yeah, see, it’s like this. We have this screening and safe sport policy, and we netted one of the biggest fish out there since we implemented it. The system works!”
USA Swimming is also spending untold amounts to fight a California bill that gives sex abuse victims rights in the civil courts.
http://theworthyadversary.com/2142-congress-asking-qs-about-dirty-pool-at-usa-swimming
Yuppers. It’s pretty deplorable.
So true. USA swimming staff collects money and protects coaching jobs while swimmers and parents are taken advantage of.
I agree with with no name. There are no safety nets for these athletes. If USA swimming banned 38 coaches in the last 3 years, I fear there are hundreds of abused swimmers who are afraid to come forward. USA swimming waits for a criminal case and then bans them. When its her word against his, they don’t move on it. These guys are predators who USA swimming is protecting.
Nice broadcast. The safe sport program is a joke! Like Rennick mentioned in the interview – a 5 minute call from USA Swimming could have helped his kids. A 5 minute call from USA Swimming could help many, many, many kids. USA Swimming does not want to get involved at the club level or LSC level. I e-mailed “Chuck” many times with no response. I contacted Woessner many times (she was no help whatsoever). The sport development consultant was useless.
Chuck mentions in the interview that USA Swimming now has the “time” to look at the program. “Time” is not on the athletes side. “Time” is on USA Swimming’s side – enough time goes by and the problem goes… Read more »