美国国家公共电台 NPR As USA Swimming Grapples With Sexual Abuse, Athletes Cite Lack Of Female Coaches

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

Over the past few months, congressional committees have investigated the abuse of Olympic athletes. They've mostly focused on gymnastics, but now new stories are emerging in swimming. That has led to a push to bring more women into the ranks of elite¹ swimming coaches. Reporter Alexandra Starr has the story.

ALEXANDRA STARR, BYLINE²: In 2012, 15-year-old Katie Ledecky stunned³ spectators at the Olympics when she won gold in the 800-meter freestyle.

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UNIDENTIFIED SPORTSCASTER: Ledecky - it's one of the finest swims you'll ever see - 15 years of age, the youngest ever.

STARR: Ledecky's win was notable for another reason. For the first time ever, a woman, Teri McKeever, served as coach of the female team. In a speech she gave four years ago, she talked about how long it took for a woman to break that barrier.

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TERI MCKEEVER: Swimming started at the Olympics for women in 1912. And I had the great honor in 2012 to be the head coach as we went into London, so a hundred years.

STARR: While women did impressively well in the 2012 Olympics, McKeever was not asked to return in 2016. The staff was, once again, all white men.

SUSAN TEETER: I was personally pretty upset.

STARR: Susan Teeter is one of the few women to oversee⁴ a swim program at the collegiate level. She just retired⁵ as head coach at Princeton.

TEETER: I just don't understand how you can leave off someone who got rave⁶ reviews from 2012 as a head coach. It was mind-boggling.

STARR: USA Swimming did not respond to requests for comment. Nancy Hogshead-Makar was a gold medalist in swimming in 1984. Today, she leads the advocacy organization Champion Women.

NANCY HOGSHEAD-MAKAR: I think the consequences of having an overwhelmingly male coaching staff and leadership is a lot of sexual abuse.

STARR: She says one of her former coaches abused a fellow teammate. And earlier this year, a 2008 Olympic coach, Sean Hutchinson, was sued for assault by one of his former swimmers.

HOGSHEAD-MAKAR: What made swimming so dangerous in my era and from what I understand today is that there's this implicit⁷ understanding that coaches can find their romantic or sexual partner from within the athletes that they coach.

STARR: Those relationships have been prohibited since 2013, but as Hogshead-Makar points out, that only happened once the U.S. Olympic Committee pressured USA Swimming to adopt the rule. Today, there are more than 150 coaches on USA Swimming's banned list - almost all are men. Most violated the organization's code of conduct including any inappropriate sexually-oriented behavior. Chris DeSantis, a swim coach in New Jersey⁸, says the actual number is probably much higher than the public list would suggest.

CHRIS DESANTIS: I would estimate the actual number of coaches who have done something that they should be banned for is north of a thousand.

STARR: There are certainly coaches who have been publicly accused of assault who are not on the banned list. Sarah Ehekircher says she was molested⁹ by her swim coach more than two decades ago. USA Swimming chose not to discipline him after a hearing. She wonders if having more female leadership at the club where she trained might have helped protect her.

SARAH EHEKIRCHER: Specifically for me, you know, I think I would have felt like I had someone to go to.

STARR: Susan Teeter, the former coach at Princeton, says she is devoting her retirement¹⁰ to bringing more women into the coaching ranks.

TEETER: I don't have a solution. I just know it's a problem. And I'm willing to go out looking for the answers and try to change it.

STARR: She's formed a task force in the hopes of making sure the women who are at the pool deck aren't just swimmers or their moms but the people actually in charge. For NPR News, I'm Alexandra Starr.

1 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

4 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 rave   

vi.胡言乱语；热衷谈论；n.热情赞扬

参考例句：

• The drunkard began to rave again.这酒鬼又开始胡言乱语了。
• Now I understand why readers rave about this book.我现明白读者为何对这本书赞不绝口了。

7 implicit   

a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的

参考例句：

• A soldier must give implicit obedience to his officers. 士兵必须绝对服从他的长官。
• Her silence gave implicit consent. 她的沉默表示默许。

8 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

9 molested   

v.骚扰( molest的过去式和过去分词 )；干扰；调戏；猥亵

参考例句：

• The bigger children in the neighborhood molested the younger ones. 邻居家的大孩子欺负小孩子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He molested children and was sent to jail. 他猥亵儿童，进了监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。