USA Swimming to allow anonymous texts for Safe Sport reporting

USA Swimming is strengthening its commitment to Safe Sport by allowing members to submit anonymous text messages to report possible violations beginning Sept. 1.

The national governing body is expanding its partnership with RealResponse, an anonymous reporting platform, so it can track, monitor and proactively address reports. Members can send text messages anonymously — or on the record — to 888-270-SWIM (7946).

In a letter to members, USA Swimming said “to enhance the ability of USA Swimming to gather facts while still protecting the identity of anonymous reporters, select USA Swimming staff will be able to respond through the platform for appropriate follow up. This includes the recent hiring of two additional Safe Sport staff members who will focus on responding to reports.”

Current reporting mechanisms, such as email, phone and the online reporting form, will continue to be available on the USA Swimming website.

“When making the decision to report a concern you have, it can often feel intimidating and overwhelming,” the website says, offering guidelines for reporting.

USA Swimming made the RealResponse platform available to national and junior national teams this summer for overseas competitions.

“We are excited to provide this valuable new resource for our USA Swimming members,” said Liz Hahn, Program Director for Safe Sport at USA Swimming. “Our utilization of this platform will allow all members to easily report from their phones, while still remaining anonymous — if they wish. In addition to continuing to provide anonymous reporting, this tool will allow USA Swimming to gather additional facts to effectively permit staff to follow up on all reports.”

USA Swimming said it will continue to protect the identity of reporters and will serve its members through resources such as its Whistleblower and Anti-Retaliation Policy. “USA Swimming has always had athlete and member well-being at the top of their priorities, and our partnership will give all involved the ability to further promote the well-being of USA Swimming members,” said David Chadwick, founder and CEO of RealResponse. “Not only will RealResponse provide for timely, critical reporting, but USA Swimming will be able to watch for trends in health and wellness aspects of its athletes, from mental health to out of competition concerns.”

Reporting concerns, however, can be complicated. The U.S. Center for SafeSport has exclusive jurisdiction for all issues dealing with sexual misconduct, sexual harassment and sexually explicit/inappropriate communication through social media. The center can also handle issues dealing with physical and emotional misconduct and violation of the “Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention” policy.

The U.S. Center for SafeSport, based in Denver, is a nonprofit founded in March 2017 under the auspices of the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017.

“It gave us the scope and authority to resolve abuse and misconduct reports for more than 11 million individuals throughout the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement — from whom we are fully independent,” the center says on its website. “The act also charged us with developing and enforcing policies, procedures, and training to prevent abuse and misconduct.”

USA Swimming has jurisdiction over all issues dealing with criminal charges, physical or emotional misconduct, USA Swimming Code of Conduct violations and violations of USA Swimming Safe Sport Policies including USA Swimming’s Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention policy.

Meanwhile, the swimmers’ club team should address peer-to-peer bullying, adult-to-athlete bullying, parent issues and complaints, violations of team rules and team code of conduct and violations of the team policies including the team’s Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention policy.

Federal law dictates all adults authorized to interact with minor or amateur athletes who learn of facts that give reason to suspect a child has suffered an incident of child abuse, including sexual abuse, must make a report of the suspected abuse to law enforcement and/or a state designated agency within 24 hours.

It is the responsibility of USA Swimming members to promptly report any incident regarding sexual misconduct by a member to USA Swimming. Reporting must occur when an individual has firsthand knowledge or misconduct or where specific and credible information has been received from a victim or knowledgeable third party.

On its website, USA Swimming maintains a list of individuals permanently suspended or ineligible for membership. The list of about 200 names is organized by state. It includes those who were suspended by USA Swimming’s National Board of Review or the U.S. Center for SafeSport. It is not “exhaustive,” the website says, because it does not include the names of individuals suspended by a Zone Board of Review, LSC Board of Review, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency or pursuant to USA Swimming’s criminal background check policy.