In an update to the story this past week of former Virginia swim coach Michael Pliuskaitis being added to the USA Swimming Permanently Suspended or Ineligible list, there is no record of criminal malfeasance of any kind.
Ceci Christy did some investigation, and found that he has never been arrested for any crime. Further, no police reports have been filed against him at any time.
This information would line-up with the official USA Swimming referenced rules violations 304.3.5, 304.3.7, 305.3.4, 304.3.8, which carefully avoids any rules that specifically involve any inappropriate sexual interaction with a minor, which would have presumably been filed in a police report. Rather, the rules violations generally specify inappropriate sexual advances against an athlete.
Pliuskaitis is still listed on the website for his company SwimTec, which provided private one-on-one instruction to “Swim Club, Masters, Triathletes, and Summer League Swimmers.” SwimTec also had their own Masters Swimming team, according to the site, meaning that he worked with both children and adults.
Per the specific notification of the appeal panel involved in the case, he is forbidden from coaching any USA Swimming athlete member “including but not limited to private coaching of USA Swimming athlete members, involvement in governance of a USA Swimming member club, ownership or otherwise holding a financial interest in, or participating in club events of a USA Swimming member club,” and warned of potential civil litigation in Pliuskaitis if he attempts to.
Pliuskaitis’ ex-wife is listed as the owner of SNOW Swimming, the club at which he formerly was the head coach: a fact that she confirmed this morning.
