By Braden Keith on SwimSwam
USA Swimming CEO Tim Hinchey has agreed to sit down with Sarah Ehekircher in Denver. Ehekircher requested the meeting after Hinchey and USA Swimming president Jim Sheehan put out an open letter to its membership 10 days ago saying that they wanted to hear from victims of sexual abuse by USA Swimming members.
Ehekircher (read more here) has accused current USA Swimming coach Scott MacFarland of abusing her while he was her swim coach and while she was a minor in the late 1980s. MacFarland admits to having a sexual relationship with Ehekircher, but says that it didn’t begin until she was 18 and was no longer her coach.
Ehekircher disputes that timeline, and says that the relationship turned sexual when she was 17 during a trip to a meet in California.
A 2010 SafeSport investigation into the events did not find any violations of USA Swimming’s Code of Conduct. The US Center for Safe Sport, a newly-created unit designed to investigation accusations of child abuse across youth sports in the United States, has reopened that investigation.
Ehekircher tells SwimSwam that she has some ‘tough questions’ that she wants to ask Hinchey and USA Swimming Safe Sport Coordinator Liz Hahn when they meet. We asked USA Swimming for a comment on what Hinchey hopes to learn and what he might share with Ehekircher, and they have not responded as of posting.
Those scheduled to attend besides Hinchey, Hahn, and Ehekircher are two USA Swimming coaches, Mike Stromberg and Dirk Marshall, at Ehekircher’s request.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: USA Swimming CEO to Meet Face-to-Face With Sarah Ehekircher