U.S. Para Swimming Shuts Down Colorado Springs Resident Training Program
10/03/2024 04:58 PM
By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam
Effective Thursday, Oct. 3, the U.S. Para Swimming resident training program in Colorado Springs has been shut down.
Swimmers were informed on Thursday via an email obtained by SwimSwam, that "after evaluating resources post-Paralympic Games, U.S. Para Swimming has made the difficult decision to discontinue the Para Swimming resident training program at the CSOPTC, effective today. As a result, resident coach George Leatherman will also be leaving the USOPTC."
The email was signed by Director of U.S. Para Swimming Erin Popovich—who is stepping down to pursue other opportunities—along with USOPC's Manager of Para Internally Managed Sports Rachel McKivigan, and Director of Para Alpine and Snowboarding Matt Cramer.
According to the 2022 U.S. Paralympic Swimming Athlete and Sport Program Plan, the Para Swimming resident program was available to both on and off-campus participants. On-campus residents lived in dormitories at the Colorado Springs Olympic and Paralympic Training Center (CSOPTC). All participants had access to pool and gym facilities, individual training plans, and access to other programs such as sports science testing, sport psychology sessions, nutrition counseling, community outreach, and media training.
Acceptance into the programs was at the sole discretion of U.S. Paralympics. While the number of participants fluctuated and was not public, 31x Paralympic medalist Jessica Longused the program in the leadup to the 2024 Paralympics, as did 100 freestyle S8 silver medalist and Americas record holder Noah Jaffe.
The program has been at the center of scandal in the last few years, as in fall 2022, Paralympic gold medalist Robert Griswoldwas accused of repeatedly raping a U.S. Paralympic teammate with severe autism whom he roomed with at the U.S. Paralympic Training Center from January through August. The family of the alleged victim sued Griswold, the USOPC, and SafeSport, though the latter was ultimately dropped from the lawsuit. Almost two years later, the case remains in limbo and the criminal case pursued first by the Colorado Springs police department and then Safesport remains open but inactive.
The USPOC could also lose insurance coverage as its commercial general liability insurer filed a lawsuit in June 2024 arguing "it should not be held liable for coverage in a separate civil case accusing the USOPC of negligence."
The U.S Paralympic swimming team made headlines at the end of the Paris Games, when four swimmers, including Long, were banned from attending the closing ceremony after being admonished for their social media behavior. Both the USOPC and Popovich issues statements on the sanctions; neither detailed the behavior in question, though it is likely related to social media posts where the four swimmers appeared to question the disability classification of their teammate Christie Raleigh-Crossley, which the four may face further disciplinary action for.
U.S Para Swimming's email included answers to questions they expected to be asked frequently as a result of the resident program's termination. In response to the predicted question about whether there would be a resident program in the future, the email stated "throughout the quad, U.S. Para Swimming will continue to evaluate available resources and programmatic need including the resident training program."
The email adds that all national team para swimmers will still be able to train at the CSOPTC after submitting a request. Athletes training at the CSOPTC must have a personal coach on deck at all times during their training sessions.
That could prevent some athletes from training at the CSOPTC, especially those who were part of the resident program and must now find new coaches and training facilities. SwimSwam reached out to athletes known to be part of the program to find out their plans. Jaffe, who took a gap year from Cal last year to be a part of the resident program and focus fully on the Paris Games, shared that he is still figuring out his plans. He's currently at home in California and plans to begin training again soon with help from Leatherman and his old club team, North Coast Aquatics. But when he returns to Cal in the spring, he'll be training on his own, which he shared has been a struggle in the past as his access to the pool has been limited to public hours.
"The resident program was immensely beneficial because many para swimmers including me do not have a permanent coach so I am disappointed," said Jaffe, before sharing that even though he was disappointed, he was not totally surprised given the limbo U.S. Para Swimming currently finds itself in.
Surprising or not, the shuttering of the residential program leaves the United States without its core piece of infrastructure to train Paralympic athletes at the dawn of new Olympic and Paralympic quads that will culminate with the country hosting the 2028 LA Games.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: U.S. Para Swimming Shuts Down Colorado Springs Resident Training Program
