http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-897122.mp3
Kansas City, Mo. – A suburban Kansas woman who swam competitively with a Blue Springs, Missouri club has filed suit against her former coach and the U. S. umbrella organization for swim teams.
Identified only by the initials L.A.S., she contends coach Robert Mirande coerced her into sex while acting as her mentor in 2006 and 07. The suit says she and her parents eventually complained to governing bodies of the Kansas City Dolphins and U.S.A. Swimming and understood Mirande had left the team, then resurfaced in Virginia, coaching.
Attorney Lynn Johnson seeks unspecified damages and reform of the coaching culture.
"People have been complaining for years, going back to the mid-80s, young swimmers complaining to U.S.A. Swimming, and it's all gone unchecked," Johnson said.
U.S.A. Swimming has been sued in California based on similar claims. None of the defendants will comment about the claims.