Yesterday, Randy reported in his column that a suspended swimming coach is still engaged by parents to coach their children. Here's his follow-up column, dated June 22, 2007 from the Toronto Star..........
Lifetime swim ban sinks like a rock
Coach Russell ignores it; officials at a loss as to how to enforce ruling
June 22, 2007 Randy StarkmanSPORTS REPORTER
There appears to be only one way Cecil Russell's lifetime ban from swimming can truly be enforced – parents must stop letting him coach their kids.
Swim Ontario and Swimming Canada officials held a conference call with legal counsel yesterday to plot their next move in trying to enforce Russell's lifetime suspension.
The lifetime ban was lifted in 2005, after he served eight years of it following a steroid-related conviction. But the ban was reinstated two weeks ago when an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled the 54-year-old purposely deceived an arbitrator when he claimed he was fully exonerated in an ecstasy trafficking ring.
Russell twice was convicted for his role in lucrative drug rings and testified to helping burn a murder victim's body in a silo beside his home.
Despite the ban, Russell has been seen on the pool deck coaching swimmers from his Dolphins Swim Club of Oakville. His lawyer says he's doing it in his capacity as a personal trainer. The Dolphins sent a letter to Swim Ontario saying Russell is now a volunteer coach.
Swim officials seem to be treading water in dealing with the issue.
"Some of the questions we were asking ourselves was, `Let's say the Dolphin Swim Club has five lanes and he rents lane No. 6, is it a breach?'" said Swimming Canada boss Pierre Lafontaine. "These are the little games that can be played."
Hilary Findlay, a lawyer and director of the Centre for Sport and Law, believes the group that holds the ultimate hammer in the Russell affair needs to step up and be counted.
"I'm not sure you can say the responsibility lies 100 per cent with sports officials and rules," said Findlay, an associate professor at Brock University. "I think at some point parents have to take some responsibility here as well in terms of their values."
Indeed, the one big question that seems to hangs over the Russell case for a lot of people is: What are the parents thinking?
"He has a strange power over a lot of people," said Olympic swim champion Anne Ottenbrite, a coach at the Pickering Swim Club. "It just blows me away. I can't fathom how these parents have their children in that program."
Paul Melia, CEO of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, which went to court to have Russell's reinstatement revoked, is equally mystified.
"In education, if a teacher is found guilty of misconduct and removed from teaching and loses their licence to teach, parents don't usually turn around and seek those people as private tutors," said Melia. "I guess this coach's record in producing champions blinds them to other things or creates more latitude in what they will tolerate."
Swim Ontario executive director John Vadeika said they are investigating allegations Russell is continuing to coach and will try to ensure the Dolphins Swim Club is abiding by the terms of Russell's suspension.
"You have to know what's being said, what's being done and under what conditions, because again Mr. Russell is allowed to carry on as Mr. Russell, Canadian citizen," said Vadeika. "He is not allowed to be a swim coach under the governance of Swimming Canada, Swim Ontario and its affiliate programs."
Bruce Kidd, dean of phys ed at the U of T, declined to renew the Dolphins Swim Club's contract to use the pool after the Star published a front-page article detailing Russell's past. They explored the issue of banning him entirely from the pool deck for any meet there but got legal advice against it.
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What can YOU do about this? Express your opinion. Today is the day to start sending those emails:
Coaches Assoociation of Ontario CAO): susan@coachesontario.ca
Coaching Association of Canada (CAC): jbales@coach.ca
Swimming Ontario: info@swimontario.com
Swim Canada: natloffice@swim.ca
Editor, The Star: tolettertoed@thestar.com
Coaches of Canada (Professional Coaches Association): info@coachesofcanada.com
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