Now that several days have passed since we first reported the lawsuit involving a former University of Virginia swimmer, Anthony Marcantonio, suing 5 of his former teammates for charges including assault, battery, false imprisonment and hazing, families are speaking out on behalf of those involved in the case.
Marcantonio’s lawyer, Jonathon Rogers, says of his client, “He was so victimized by the actions and threats of these five individuals that he ended up having to leave the University of Virginia. He felt that he did not have the support of the university, or of his coach.”
In direct contradiction is the voice of one of the defendant’s parents who says that all activities detailed in the suit were ‘voluntary’ and stated that “seven other first year swimmers called it the best weekend of their lives.”
Another unnamed parent elaborated that “Welcome Week’ has happened to hundreds of other swimmers. These boys felt they were carrying on a tradition that has been going on at UVA for years.”
Additionally, parents of the accused say that their children have already paid the price by having been suspended from competition back in 2014.
Marcantonio and his lawyer are asking for the case to be heard by a jury, while the families of the defendants are working to develop a response.
The complaint asks for the case to be heard by a jury. The families of the accused students are working to develop a response.
Supporting hazing…harmless fun and so forth…many laughs. Supporting hazing is similar to opposing gay marriage…it was cool 30 years ago, but the “times they are a changin.” It wasn’t long ago we had confederate flags on a wildly popular TV show…now the reruns are being pulled. Good riddance. I will rejoice the day that hazing is seen in the same light as bigotry and intolerance, as that will be a great day.
IMAGINE: You join a company in the professional world and some of the “senior” employees “force” you to take party in illegal activities to “welcome” you to the team. How quickly do you think the employees would be fired and lawsuits would rain down on the company… Read more »
Dutch you always come out against Virginia. And NO – supporting hazing is NOT the same as not supporting gay marriage. You are very confused.
What is positive about belittling or having power over someone else? My parents taught me to be respectful of others. Where is our society going when we accept behavior that demoralizes others?
A strong point is being made with this law suit and bringing this to light. We will hopefully help others not have to face being hazed.
As a former D1 swimmer, coach and D1 swim parent I know the sport has done much to promote achievement, athleticism and opportunity. I am proud of the accomplishments made through this amazing sport. But I too went through some very harrowing times as a swimmer and also saw too much disrespectful behavior that was over looked. Stills bothers me.… Read more »
BUT could there have been a better platform for change??? Rather than suing five students?? It would be great to believe that Marcantonio and his family are doing it to change the culture of hazing; however, as their lawsuit only involves the students (and not the school) and they want a jury to award damages, it seems as though money is the desired outcome and not change.
Money talks.
How ’bout some positive news regarding all the amazing college swimmers out there:
http://www.cscaa.org/news/2015625/franklin-highlights-record-number-of-scholar-all-americans
“The College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) has selected a record 810 swimmers and divers to its Scholar All-America team, highlighted by CSCAA Swimmers-of-the-Year Missy Franklin and Ryan Murphy from California, Sarah Thompson (Williams) and Andrew Wilson (Emory).
An additional 1,078 swimmers and divers were recognized as Honorable-Mention selections
Student athletes were designated based on their performance in the classroom and the pool. In total 284, institutions placed at least one swimmer or diver on the either the first team or Honorable Mention lists. . .”
Let’s stop the comparisons between WKU and UVA’s situation. These cases are totally different. The 5 Virginia guys did not publicly post naked pictures of drunk & passed out girls. They did not get caught with illegal drugs. What happened at UVA was 5 college guys trying to have fun with new teammates in the only way college aged kids know how… with beer.
What happened at Virginia could have happened (and spoiler alert, does happen) at every University in the country. All of the people on here that are continuing to attack these 5 guys sicken me. I’ve seen posts saying how people’s children would never stand for such treatment and, on the contrary, that their children would… Read more »
None of us will never know what really happened. We weren’t there. But as another division 1 swimmer, I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that the alleged events DO NOT happen at every university. Especially not among swim teams.
Like I said, I will never know exactly what happened. I’m not going to pretend I know who is right and who is wrong. But the things that were described are not typical for all college swim teams or college campuses. You and I have had different experiences. I believe you when you say that it does happen. Just not everywhere.
I do not know any of the swimmers involved in this lawsuit, so I don’t really have anything… Read more »
Wait, so are you saying every member of the men’s AND women’s WKU swim team publicly posted pictures of naked girls? And where was this public place they were posted? And every member of the Men’s AND Women’s WKU swim team was caught with illegal drugs? Huh, I thought it was one guy.
Now the story has gone “national” and has been mentioned on “Good Morning America” – I hope that as adults we are able to comprehend what is happening to the five young men named in the lawsuit. I get that the hazing was wrong, BUT if Marcantonio’s claims are not substantiated, I would imagine that the parents can turn around and name him in a defamation of character lawsuit. He was a victim of hazing – but the portrait they are painting of a swimmer whose Olympic hopes were derailed and whose training suffered are seemingly grossly exaggerated (http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/anthony-marcantonio-claims-two-wins-during-day-two-of-ithaca-sectionals/). I wonder if the lawsuit has anything to do with whether he had difficulty finding… Read more »
In this day and age you just cant do these things any more whether its related to a school, military, or corporate life – that’s a fact! As far as I can see no one has disputed any of the claims. A good attorney will have a field day in court. I’m actually shocked that the coach and the school was not directly named in the lawsuit – usually attorney’s following the money. That may come later.
I will be surprised if someone at UVA doesn’t lose their job over these hazing issues – my guess is either the swim coach or the AD will feel career pain at some point.
Lesson learned from this – AD’s tell your… Read more »
I am not an attorney, but like many business owners of a certain age I have been sued before. My very good and very expensive lawyer said this to me first. Civil suits are either clear on evidence or unclear on face contests. Clear is a contract breached, an invoice unpaid, property damage done are examples. Unclear is “he/they did this to me” versus “no I/we didn’t”. Unclear is won or lost on credibility.
This case looks to be unclear. There isn’t any evidence Marcantonio was physically harmed, he reported no injuries and did not seek any trauma counseling from UVa’s hospital. The police and prosecutor concluded the same. Marcantonio’s claim is he was psychologically or otherwise harmed, and those… Read more »
Who ever put a thumbs down to Joel Lin’s post should explain themselves. Their critical thinking and logic is highly suspect.
The thing is that the parents don’t deny that any of this happened, They say that is has been going on for years and hundreds have been involved. What idiots the parents are and what idiots are the hundreds of swimmers who tolerated it. The only one with any balls is the plaintiff. Any time anybody starts talking “team building” I can expect an stupid comment.
Gary,
The parents are not parties in this case, and what “they say” is not evidence of anything. Have a think on how easily this could have been written about a UVa fraternity row member not so long ago…What idiots the [fraternity boys] are and what idiots are the hundreds of [fraternity boys] who tolerated it.
You don’t know what happened and jumping to those conclusions is a flower pot for ignorance. Talk is cheap. The easy thing for a plaintiff to do is rail and pontificate. The harder thing is to adduce evidence. We are all waiting for that.
Evidence? As far as I can tell the students involved and their parents are not denying these things happened. Rather than dispute the events, they are trying to justify them.
Wait, so are you for or against the lawsuit? A little confused…
Basically these parents are condoning “sexual assault” which is disgusting. Under Virginia Sexual Assault Laws, they all 5 should be prosecuted. http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/ofhs/prevention/dsvp/varapelaws/documents/2009/pdfs/statutes.pdf
UVA looks bad either way in this mess. It wouldn’t shock me if they fired the coaching staff moving forward.