Olympic Swim Coach Named In OC Sex Abuse Lawsuit

HUNTINGTON BEACH (CBSLA.com)— A legendary swim coach who trained with Janet Evans and other Olympic swimmers is facing a lawsuit from a colleague who claims he interfered with another coach's attempts to uncover sex abuse allegations.

KNX 1070's Brian Ping reports Mark Schubert is named in a lawsuit alleging he ignored complaints that a colleague and long time friend engaged in sexually inappropriate behavior with young athletes.

Dia Rianda, who coached under Schubert at the Golden West Swim Club, claims she was fired for speaking up about alleged misdeeds by another coach, Bill Jewell.

The complaint (PDF) filed in Orange County Superior Court alleges that while coaching at the Fullerton facility, Jewell was accused of "having improper physical contacts with some of (the club's) young female swimmers".

"In particular, Coach Jewell was observed improperly touching the girls and providing them with 'massages' in clear violation of USA Swimming's Code of Conduct," according to the suit, which alleges Jewell was also accused of making "inappropriate sexual comments on the pool deck and at travel meets."

Jewell is being investigated by the sport's national federation, but has not been disciplined.

Schubert, who was hired by Golden West in early to mid-2011, coached on eight U.S. Olympic teams from 1980 to 2008, according to the club's website. He was head coach of the country's Olympic team that won 33 medals in Beijing in 2008.

The lawsuit charges that Schubert's pattern of enabling abuse dates back to his time at a training facility in Fullerton, where he was dismissed two years ago.

Rianda says the reputation of the USA swim team has been tarnished in recent years by sexual abuse allegations, and hopes this legal action can help clean things up.

Schubert and Jewell have not issued any comment on the lawsuit.

Click here to read the full complaint.