Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Sexual Abuse in Swimming
Olympic swimmer and coach Jack Nelson died last week. He was famous for coaching the U.S. women’s relay team that beat the favored East Germans at the 1976 Olympics. But he was also accused by one of his star athletes, Diana Nyad, of raping her multiple times when she was a teenager. Nyad is not alone.
By Madeleine Brand • • 1 min readOlympic swimmer and coach Jack Nelson died last week. He was famous for coaching the U.S. women’s relay team that beat the favored East Germans at the 1976 Olympics. But he was also accused by one of his star athletes, Diana Nyad, of raping her multiple times when she was a teenager. Nyad is not alone. More than 100 swim coaches have been banned from the sport for life because of sexual abuse allegations or convictions. A new article in Outside magazine takes an in-depth look at the issue.
