Further alleged
cases of abuse have been reported to the
German Swimming Federation (DSV) following accusations made by former top diver
Jan Hempel against a former coach.
Just as
German swimming should have been celebrating European gold for
Leonie Beck in the open water over 10 kilometres on Sunday, the spectre of
abuse again loomed large.
"Cases are still coming in every day. How many I can not say," DSV performance director Christian Hansmann said at the European Championships in Italy.
"Many injured parties and victims have reported to our prevention officer. This means that everything is now being compiled and documented, just to show how we deal with it internally."
Hansmann emphasized that all cases will be investigated.
In a German
ARD TV documentary entitled "
Abused - Sexualized Violence in German Swimming," Hempel, the 1996 Olympic silver medallist in Atlanta, made allegations of sexual abuse against his former coach
Werner Langer.
From 1982 to 1996, he said was repeatedly
sexually abused by Langer. In 1997, Hempel says he informed the then national coach about the incidents. He accuses the
German Swimming Federation of having mishandled the situation at the time.
"Of course, the accusations are very serious. We are looking into them both internally and externally," Hansmann said.
"We are working to prevent it from happening again."
