The Olympics are the fairytale that predatory coaches dangle before starry-eyed kids to get them to do anything they ask. I know because it happened to me
My mother never got to see me swim fast. I had only started swimming competitively in September, my 13th birthday was in December and by March she was dead. My family life was turned upside down as my father’s drinking became more than just a couple scotches each night, which was the beginning of the disconnect between the two of us. He barely noticed as I progressed rapidly through the levels of the team, putting me in the same group with swimmers who had been in the pool since they were five or six years old. As early as my freshman year in high school, it was clear that I had the talent and work ethic to earn a scholarship to a major Division I university.
All I could think about was going to the Olympics. That’s the fairytale that coaches dangle before every starry-eyed kid that becomes a swimmer. A dream that coaches with bad intentions absolutely wield to their advantage, grooming them with the promise of becoming a big-time swimmer as they break you down and tease out performances you didn’t know you were capable of. The coaches use predatory behaviors to get kids to do anything they ask. I know because it happened to me.
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