Brock Turner, the former Stanford swimmer convicted of sexual assault, is no longer eligible for USA Swimming membership.
USA Swimming spokesman Scott Leightman told USA Today that Turner’s USA Swimming membership expired at the end of 2014, meaning he was not a member at the time of his crime in January 2015.
“USA Swimming doesn’t have any jurisdiction over non-members,” Leightman explained.
“Brock Turner is not a member of USA Swimming and, should he apply, he would not be eligible for membership. … Had he been a member, he would be subject to the USA Swimming Code of Conduct. USA Swimming strictly prohibits and has zero tolerance for sexual misconduct, with firm Code of Conduct policies in place, and severe penalties, including a permanent ban of membership, for those who violate our Code of Conduct,” he also said.
“Brock Turner is not a member of USA Swimming and, should he apply, he would not be eligible for membership,” USA Swimming announced in a statement to USA Today.
Without membership, Turner would not be eligible for any USA Swimming sanctioned meets.
Apparently USA Swimming’s leadership is doubling down on the incorrect statement that it lacks jurisdiction over former members by using the word “non-member”. This assertion is simply not true. It has jurisdiction over former members who violate the code of conduct or it would not have banned John Trites or Mitch Ivey.
It lacks jurisdiction over non-members in that it cannot discipline a non-member. However, the not “eligible for membership” is essentially a ban. A well-deserved one at that.
Isn’t the US Olympic Swimming Selection meet, open to any US citizen that makes the qualifying time? My understanding is that the US Olympic Swimming Trials is a USOC sanctioned meet and not a USA Swimming sanctioned meet, is this correct?
It’s my understanding that Trials are sponsored through/affiliated with USOC but that they are sanctioned through USA Swimming. The info packet for the trials meet (available on the USA swimming website) lists USA Swimming as the governing body for the meet. Meet packet also says that only “registered members in good standing with USA Swimming will be permitted to compete in these Trials.”