Swim Coaches Molest Female Swimmers, Go Unpunished for Decades

by Pema Levy · 2010-03-23 09:00:00 UTC
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A suit filed in California alleges that the the governing body of U.S. competitive swimming has failed to address widespread sexual abuse of young girls at swim clubs across the country. According to the Associated Press, the suit alleges that "more than 30 coaches nationwide have engaged in sexual misconduct with young females, and says there is a culture in competitive swimming of condoning inappropriate relationships between coaches and swimmers."

1972 Olympic champion Deena Deardurff Schmidt has spoken out on behalf of the victims by sharing her own abuse story. Her story reflects what the lawyers in the case also allege: "damaging and disturbing information about how the swim world operates."

In the 1960s, Schmidt was molested over a period of 4 years by her coach. In a standard don't-trust-the-victim maneuver, when Schmidt reported the abuse in the late 1980s, she was not allowed to lodge a formal complaint because she was not swimming at the time. She would have to find a coach to back up her story (gotta have a man to back up this woman's story). Given the cult of male secrecy that protects abusers, no one would step forward. In 2005, upon learning that her coach would soon be inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame, she reported the abuse again. No investigation came of it, and the abuser is now in the Hall of Fame. Meanwhile, Schmidt has waited decades for the swim community to admit its abuse problem.

Being a female athlete is not easy. Only in recent years have structural barriers to women's participation in sports been struck down. Barriers in attitudes still remain: A young, progressive friend of mine recently expressed regret that his wife was pregnant with a girl because he wanted to be able to play sports with his child. Why assume that your daughter will not enjoy and excel in sports? The last thing girls need is the added deterrent of knowing they might be entering a sport in which molestation goes unpunished and is not taken seriously.

Photo credit: jayhem

Pema Levy is a journalist living in Washington, DC. She covers women in politics, reproductive rights and policy, and pop culture here at Change.org.
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