Sean Hutchison Permanently Banned By U.S. Center for SafeSport

Sean Hutchison, the former coach of Olympian Ariana Kukors and the now-defunct USA Swimming Center of Excellence at FAST, has been permanently banned from Olympic sports by the U.S. Center for Safesport.

Hutchison was once considered one of the rising stars of swim coaching. He headed up what was envisioned to be a high-profile professional swimming hub within the Fullerton Area Swim Team, or FAST. That group included Kukors, whom Hutchison had coached since she was 13. But Kukors, now Ariana Kukors Smith by marriage, came forward in February of this year, alleging that Hutchison had begun grooming her at the age of 13 and sexually abusing her at 16. She’s gone into more detail on the allegations here.

Kukors Smith later filed a civil lawsuit against Hutchison, USA Swimming, her former club and former National Team head coach Mark Schubert, claiming that the swimming federation covered up sex crimes by Hutchison and that Schubert failed to report signs of child abuse between Kukors and Hutchison. USA Swimming’s former SafeSport director Susan Woessner resigned the month Kukors first came forward, admitting she had kissed Hutchison and failed to report the potential conflict of interest when she was part of an investigation into Hutchison in 2010.

Hutchison was previously listed in the U.S. Center for SafeSport’s database with an interim suspension while the Center’s investigation moved forward. But as of October 5, 2018, Hutchison is listed as “permanently ineligible” for the violation of “sexual misconduct – involving a minor.”