Rick Curl a famous swimming coach has been banned for life after being accused of having improper relationship with a teenage swimmer in the 1980s, another ugly chapter in a sexual abuse scandal that rocked one of America’s most successful Olympic sports.Curl, who ran one of the nation’s largest swim clubs near Washington, D.C., and coached 1996 and 2000 Olympic gold medalist Tom Dolan, was scheduled for a hearing Wednesday before the National Board of Review. Curl waived his right to challenge the charges which is kind of the same as pleading guilty. Curl voluntarily gave up his membership and will be added to USA Swimming’s list of banned individuals, which is published on the organization Web site. He was accused of having relationship with 13 year old swimmers which happened in the mid 80′s.
That swimmer, Kelley Davis Currin spoke about her feelings to the banning of Curl, ”Obviously I feel really good about it,” she told The Associated Press in an interview. ”But, in a way, I feel like this should have been done so long ago. This is really just the first step in the process. Unfortunately, I don’t think things are going to get better. I think more discoveries are going be made. This is just the first layer of the onion.”
Currin received a $150,000 settlement from Curl not to go to law enforcement with details of the illicit four-year relationship, a decision she still regrets. She blames this on having a bad lawyer who gave her poor legal advice and regrets not taking leagal action against Curl.