USA Swimming board considering athlete safeguards in new partnership

The USA Swimming board of directors met Wednesday to discuss the Colorado Springs-based national governing body’s plan to institute additional safeguards aimed at keeping underage athletes out of harm’s way and increasing the accountability of coaches.

A 32-person board provided input on proposed policies and guidelines that govern coach-athlete relationships, major education topics and potential improvements to the complaint reporting system and background screening requirements – the hot-button issues Tuesday when USA Swimming met with the Child Welfare League of America in Colorado Springs.

USA Swimming partnered last week with the Virginia-based CWLA, the country’s oldest and largest membership-based organization dedicated to vulnerable children and families, in hopes of expanding its athlete protection measures, evaluating its code of conduct and conducting an annual audit to ensure its programming is on par with industry standards.

The NGB is working on implementing a seven-point plan that the board approved in May – essentially the platform for cracking down on inappropriate behavior by coaches. Many athletes have ongoing lawsuits against USA Swimming, and the NGB has published a list of 46 people it banned for life, including former national team director Everett Uchiyama.

Background screening guru Barry Nadell is helping USA Swimming review its criticized program. The NGB also vows to hire staff at its Olympic Training Center headquarters to focus mainly on preventing sexual misconduct, and USA Swimming president Jim Wood is expected to name a special committee on athlete protection later this year.

USA Swimming probably will work with the CWLA throughout the summer, with Wood and executive director Chuck Wielgus serving as the NGB’s point men. New legislation won’t go to vote until USA Swimming’s annual convention in September in Dallas.

Wielgus said USA Swimming is trying to determine “what actions and decisions will be the most effective in working to build the safest environment possible for our athletes.” Wood added, “This process is going to take time and hard work, but at the end of the day, we will have built a strong and effective program that works within our sport.”

Ed Vasquez, a spokesman for attorneys suing USA Swimming, last week questioned the NGB’s partnership, saying the CWLA lacks “credible experience working in youth sports to stop the molestation and abuse of young athletes by coaches.” He accused the NGB of “shamefully using a children’s advocacy group to rebuild a tarnished image.”

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