Just saw an article on an alleged pervert swim coach. Hope it's not true. Seems a veteran swim coach (40 years in the sport) in Oregon is being accused of sexual abuse of minors.Lake Oswego HS coach Don King is 66 years old. He owns his own club team, King Swimming of Lake Oswego.
Authorities say there's video evidence against King. Supporters say these charges are fabrications. We'll see.
E-mail your thoughts to Don at don@kingswimming.com
There's not a whole lot available on the King Swimming of Lake Oswego site. For a bit of info, click here and here.
Might make coaches wonder "If I make Susie do a 200 fly for being late for practice, will she get mad and make up a story that could ruin me?"
50 comments:
I swam for King at Santa Clara in the early 80's and I witnessed him touching kids. I quit swimming for him because he's gross. The truth will come out, wait and see. I hope he goes to jail for a long time. I am surprised he got away with this for so long. I guess the police are saying he is very good at grooming his victims. I saw it for myself.
USA Swimming has just begun their investigation. Lots of girls/women are coming forward. He is in big trouble.
What concerns me is regarding institutions like Lewis & Clark College that swept "issues" under the rug and asked Don King to leave his office in 24 hours. Passing a sexual issue on to the next unknowing group is not exactly ethical. I believe the police will research Lewis & Clark and a lot more.
In the past people were afraid they would be hurt as in "killing the messenger" but now that the word is out I'm believing / hoping more people will step forward with their experiences.
Thanks Lewis & Clark College
Definitely real! Don King has a history and the police will find it. I have personally witnessed his actions. USA Swimming will have something to say too. I hope he goes to jail for the rest of his pathetic life.
They say he likes to molest kids right in front of parents, in crowds etc. Some sickos get off doing this sort of thing in public. The guy that videotaped him did it at a swim meet. I think it involved 5 kids.
He deserves everything he gets - he's a bully to strong women - female coaches, moms and swimmers who ever questioned him or disagreed with him. It fits the profile of a sexual predator who likes holding power over young girls who are not strong. The police are doing a great job investigating and numerous current and former swimmers are coming forward. If you know anything, from observation or victimization, please contact the Lake Oswego, Oregon Police Department at 503-635-0250 (days) or 503-635-0238 (eves.). God bless all who help convict him!
I was a victim from long ago and I am working with police. It was the hardest decision I have ever made to come forward. Please, if you are a victim, please come forward. Do this for the young girls in the future! We have to keep this animal off the street!!
Have the police checked his online computer habits? Dirty men that like children are sometimes involved in child pornography or go to chat rooms. I hope they are doing forensics on his PC!!
USA Swimming Staff Contact for the National Board of Review:
Christine Schemmel cschemmel@usaswimming.org
719-866-4578
Please send any information related to the King case to Ms. Schemmel.
The case I know about happened in 1981! Assuming he never took breaks, there could be victims scattered from Southern California to Oregon and beyond. 26 Years is a long time and I am sure there are many who will want to come forward. Call Nancy Grace, Greta (whomever) and get this national coverage ASAP. This case will go to trial FAST because King's lawyers will not want more victims finding out about this case. His chances of getting away with this go down with every victim braze enough to step forward.
Victims and witnesses please call the Lake Oswego, Oregon Police Department at 503-635-0250 (days) or 503-635-0238 (eves.) Call National Media (maybe Paris can move to page 2) Also, call USA Swimming. USA Swimming will pull his coaching card. The standards they use will not be a stringent as the criminal courts. If enough witnesses come forward, he may not ever be able to coach again!
I am a swimming coach. I coached briefly with King in the 80's. I never liked him. He was hired to give swimmers rub downs at swim meets which was probably sheer heaven for the scum bag. He wormed his way onto the deck to coach. He was always touching the young girls kissing, hugging, holding their hands etc. I never saw him touch private parts or I would have reported him then. You can always tell by shaking a man's hand and I could tell he was a creep.
Someone should find the rat at Lous & Clark that swept this under the rug! Shame on you Louis and Clark.
Got his resume: Notice two years or less at most locations....
Donald J. King• USS Swim Coach• Level V American Swim Coaches Association• American Red Cross Instruction• 1stAid/CPR, Lifeguarding• Past Member "Elite" Swim Coaches, United States SwimmingEDUCATION / QUALIFICATIONS•1958 Graduate, Sunnyvale High School, Sunnyvale, California•1958-1961 U.S. Army Paratrooper (Honorable Discharge)•1961-1971 General Manager, Greenmeadow Community Association, Palo Alto, California•1972-1976 General Manager, Head Coach, Kona Kai Swim & Racquet Club, Santa Clara, California•1976-1978 Assistant Coach, DeAnza Swim Club, Cupertino, California•1978-1980 Assistant Coach, Industry Hills Aquatic Club City of Industry, California•1978-1980 Assistant Coach, University of Southern California•1980-1982 Head Coach, Santa Clara Swim Club, Santa Clara, California•1982-1986 Head Coach, Mission City Swim Club, Santa Clara, California•1986-1988 Head Coach, The Oregon Project Swim Club, Lake Oswego, Oregon •1988-1991 Head Coach, Wilson High School, Portland, Oregon•1988-1997 Head Coach, PRIDE swim club, Lake Oswego, Oregon•1995-1997 Head Coach, Lewis and Clark College, Portland, Oregon•1997-1998 Head Coach, Madison High School, Portland, Oregon•1998 – 2001 Assistant Coach, Jesuit High School, Portland, OregonHe is currently on the staffs of Club Sports, Portland State and Lake Oswego Community SchoolACCOMPLISHMENTS:• 1981 Guest Japanese Swim association speaker in fourteen (14) cities with the American Red Cross Instructor 1stAid/CPR, Lifeguarding • Past member "Elite" swim coaches, United States Swimming
His resume doesn't even list Thunderbolt Swimming (Tualitan Hills, OR) where he was last employed for a few years before he started his current team. He was an age-group coach there for a short while, then made a dry-land coach, then fired. Why?????? PLEASE if you have knowledge of his inappropriate behavior, contact authorities or USA Swimming. We don't want our children exposed anymore to such an individual!
There are lots of things missing or not reported accurately on his resume. He was at Industry Hills Aquatics in 1981. It shows him there for two years leaving in 1980. I bet if enough people look at this they'd find a lot missing. I have never seen so much job hopping. Why didn't anyone who interviewed him pick up on all the job changes? This resume screams of something amiss!
Link to King Resume:
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:uDdqbDLRbE0J:www.kingswimming.com/coach_resume.pdf+site:www.kingswimming.com+don+king+swimming&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=us
Viewers, if you see items missing on King's resume contact the Lake Oswego PD. Anything King omitted was probably for a reason. Please should investigate these places first. Lake Oswego PD. at 503-635-0250 (days) or 503-635-0238 (eves.) Also, call USA Swimming and report anything that is missing in King's resume.
Let's flood the national newsrooms with information on this case. I have not seen anything on national networks. The police want other victims to come forward. California has had no news on this case and King coached in Southern California and Northern California for years! King's lawyer will want to have a speedy trial, which is the right of the accused, because less victims will have the opportunity to hear about this and come forward. Do this for the kids! Call national news networks and tell them why they should cover this case! Thank you local media for continuing coverage....
I researched Donald J. King's military record. I can't find anything 1958-1961 U.S. Army Paratrooper (Honorable Discharge). I guess that is a BS lie too!!!
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:VFeZ3mB5LbAJ:www.kingswimming.com/news_archive.html+site:www.kingswimming.com+don+king+swimming&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us
I read this on his website:
We are trying to make arrangements for a "quiet" room for teaching of relaxation/visualization on Sunday afternoons. Watch for announcements.
I wonder what really goes on in these quiet rooms?
Don King is still listed on the ASCA (American Swim Coaches Association) as a Fellow
http://www.swimmingcoach.org/Fellows/default.asp
Why has it taken ASCA so long to respond? King should be removed from any honor positions in swimming until he is either convicted or exonerated (not likely)
Kate Taylor, reporter with the Oregonian here. I am covering the Don King case, and I would very much like to hear from anyone who has had personal experience with Don King. This story is extremely important. Thank you. My email is katetaylor@news.oregonian.com and my phone number is (503) 294-5116
Hi Kate,
Swam for King 25+ years ago; I am a victim. I would like to know if my identity is protected if I speak with you and I want to know why national media is not covering this case??? I live nowhere near Lake Oswego, OR. I agree, this is a very important case! If you answer my questions favorably, I will consider talking to you. I am also in contact with Lake Oswego PD and I do not want to compromise there case first and foremost.
Hi K,V.,
Yes, absolutely. I'm so sorry for what happened. In these kinds of cases, the last thing I would ever want is to re-victimize a source by revealing something they don't want me to. You could provide valuable background, and possibly offer some new routes for my reporting. I appreciate you considering to share your experience, and I'm sure you're devoted to protecting other potential victims. If you'd like to reach me on my email it is, as I posted earlier katetaylor@news.oregonian.com.
Hi Kate,
I have a big travel week with work. I can probably only talk in the evening tomorrow after 5. I am outside the statute of limitations for pressing charges against King; still, the police thought I could provide background data on his patterns of grooming victims etc. I don't want to hurt their case. They are working day and night for the victims and I want to make certain the integrity of their case is protected.
My point about national coverage is that many of his victims, assuming he has not had breaks over 25 years, are probably not in Oregon. The police will only have a limited amount time to gather evidence.
I agree with KV. Word of this case has to get outside Oregon ASAP. People move around these days and we feel certain there are victims in many states who might like the opportunity to step forward. No offense but the Oregonian is not going to get it done. We need better coverage than local news and blogs.
I can't even imagine what is must feel like to be married to him and wake up one day to find out he molests young girls and its on video! His son must be so proud.
who said it was great to be king?
The coverage of this case is so poor. If it were not for the blogs we'd have no information.
I swam on one of King's teams over 25 years ago, and also briefly coached with him later on. When I coached with him, he was never a problem at all. No hint of that kind of behavior. When I swam on one of his teams (he was one of many coaches on that team), he did have some problems, but nothing like the allegations we're seeing here. Don is a guy can be contentious at times. He does have an old school military background, and sometimes it can be his way or the highway. Some team members didn't like that attitude at all, and at times, things did get tense. To be sure, other team members liked his demeanor and style of discipline. He was also very good to some swimmers. He could show a heart of gold. Several lived with him during an Olympic year, and several of those were college age, elite swimmers, most of which were male. He invited many of us over for dinners and pool parties (no alcohol). What is ironic about these allegations is that there were a couple of other coaches during that time who many felt were involved with some of the girls on the team. These were girls who were in late high school years/early college. Don King wasn't one of them. I believe one married one of those former swimmers and became a college coach in another part of the country. Another--once again, not Don King--had his marriage fall apart, and some felt it was due to some of the affairs he had with female swimmers. Another--a real good coach in his early 40s at the time--married a female swimmer, but she was 22 or 23 at the time. I believe they're still married with a child. Let's hope these allegations about Don are untrue.
Regarding job hopping, Don did have a lot of positions, but if you look at the resume closely, Don was often working two to three jobs at a time. Moreover, "The Oregon Project" also reportedly fell through because of lack of proper funding from the person financing the operation, which wasn't Don King. As one poster noted,I believe King was indeed at Industry Hills in 1981, whereupon he took the Santa Clara coaching position. He coached Pablo Morales & Chris Cavanaugh at Santa Clara. Once again, let's hope these allegations are untrue. Some people (coaches & swimmers) never liked Don because he could be difficult, but this is something on a completely different level. Very serious and scary stuff.
There is a story to his job hopping. The police are unraveling his web of lies. I am very confident they have him dead to rights and he will finally be punished for his dirty crimes against children.
Don King "He coached Pablo Morales & Chris Cavanaugh at Santa Clara" Okay get this straight. HE DID NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THEIR DEVELOPMENT!!!! Donald Duck could have coached those guys. Just because a coach gets a job where world class swimmers happen to train, does not mean he can claim that he produced them! Don King has never developed a single swimmer from scratch to National level. He is an awful coach! He was originally hired to give rub downs at IHAC. I am sure that fed his sick pleasures! He was never hired as a coach there. He had no qualifications! He wormed his way onto the deck where he has stayed for over 25 years. He has never produced a single high level swimmer!
I don't think Don King was a bad coach or a great coach. However, you don't get to serve stints at DeAnza, USC, Industry Hills, & Santa Clara by being a bad coach. He had to have significant upside to coach at those places. I don't think anyone explicitly stated that he "developed" Pablo Morales & Chris Cavanaugh. He had the opportunity to coach them, and they didn't do badly under him. If I recall correctly, Cavanaugh beat Rowdy Gaines and won a national championship while at Santa Clara with King. It's not like they went backwards. I also think King worked with breastroke specialists when he was at Industry Hills. He didn't just give rubdowns.
In proper context, once again, let's hope these allegations are false. Certainly, if he's convicted, he deserves swift and severe punishment.
I swam for King. He is a bad coach and a pervert. He was hired at Industry to give rubdowns. He has no qualifications/no background whatsoever. He did not even complete college! After some time he managed to talk the coaches into letting him onto the deck. They gave him the difficult kids and not the best talent. Spencer and Lamont were the top acts at IHAC.... Real class, both of them. Ed married a college swimmer. I believe they married 27 yrs ago and still going strong. I swam for Don lamont who was a great coach. Thank God I got with Don because that is when my swimming took off after I left Don King the pervert.
It is very difficult to mess up a world class swimmer. You just pet them (King is expert here), put them on the blocks, and they go. Name a single swimmer that King developed from start to finish and the number is zero. As for his breaststroke expertise, I will leave that with the pundits. There is way too much room to play on those words! You can hope about the charges being false all you want. I am a witness. I've made a statement to the police. They have had so many swimmers come forward that they probably won't even need my testimony. King is not respected whatsoever in the coaching community.
Based on reading everything you say above, if you are a person who is going to "come forward" in this case, remember that cross examination is the right of the defendant. Some of what you said can be deemed accurate, some of what you said is merely opinion, and some isn't accurate. It is a good idea to be careful what you say, do it appropriately with complete and total accuracy, and refrain from sarcastic and scatological reference. A good lawyer can dissect everything you said, and reduce your credibility.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kinsella_(swimmer)
This has got to be a mistake. Read toward the bottom of the page when you open the link. Gotta be a mix-up.
when i was a young swimmer, we got to watch guys like kinsella and chet jastremski on 8mm black and white film. underwater filming wasn't all that common yet and it was impressive.
i think i remember him winning an open water swim on lake ontario one year back in the (mid?) 70's. i happened to be there with my family at the canadian national exposition. at the time, i was much more interested in the hockey hall of fame (bobby orr fan) than i was in some guy i'd never heard of who was swimming in the lake.
i hope somebody is just making a joke about the nambla thing. if it's true, i think the don king story moves to the back burner. if it's false, i think kinsella should sue wikipedia for millions...
Stone Cold: You couldn't be more right about that. Kinsella was/is one of the true icons of swimming, and has been part of the elite business world for a long time. Although it's a free country and the ACLU can be adept at blurring the lines, I would think even a moderately responsible employer would not stand for that for one second. It's gotta be a huge mistake.
Don King must be a real egomaniac to name his swimming program after himself. I guess all these small girls are his subjects. If they have his name all over their caps, suits and sweats, it gives him the feeling of ownership. Think about it, how many coaches do you know who name their programs after themselves?
anonymous, you've really gone overboard there. i know of very reputible coaches who put their name on their teams.
jeff zwicker of zwicker aquatic club in lockport, new york (near buffalo) was a very successful coach. zwicker produced backstroke great sue walsh. here's a quote i found on a masters swimming thread about zwicker:
"My age group/USS coach Jeff Zwicker was a combination of all of the above, depending on the circumstance. I started with him at age 5. He was always my coach even during the HS and college season. As a masters coach I find myself trying to think like he would have."
dick bower's team, bowers bolts, was bigtime.
you can read a may, 2007 article here:
http://www.hcnonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18294799&BRD=1574&PAG=461&dept_id=532539&
if anyone wants to waste their time researching this topic, be my guest. i doubt you'll find any correlation between using your surname in your team name and being an alleged pervert.
Dick Bower is one of the biggest egomaniacs known to man. Not a pervert whatsoever, but an egomaniac nonetheless. I don't think naming your team after yourself means you are a pervert, necessarily, but it definitely indicates an ego problem. As for Dick, they won lots of state titles in LA based on volume of kids. But, the quality performances were from the smaller teams in LA like NOA and the Shreveport teams under Butch Jordan. Those were the two best programs in the state for 20 years running without question. I don't know anything about Zwicker
I got a chance to read the most recent report out of Oregon. You never know what can happen in court, but I tend to think even though Don King put in a "not guilty" plea, that when the evidence starts being presented, this will ultimately result in a plea bargain involving no prison time and very stringent probationary standards.
as a person involved in the case, i want to say that the whole case was treated in a very bad manner. the victims of this story are victims of the police- they are the one who abused the girls. ruined them and their team-their family. none were victimized by don- just by the police. and still are, since this is over half a year old. isnt that something? torture for the girls, who now dont trust the police and court systems anymore.
Please remove links to "Mom's chat...." This site has nothing to do with predators. There are two references in this topic.
Thanks
here's the comment without the link:
Hi Stone Cold: I challenged ex-swimmers of King on this blog to identify any single swimmer he produced. I think you should do the same; maybe we will get to the bottom of exactly what kind of "coach" King really is.....
Butch Jordan is an amazing coach. I swim in Louisiana for COAST. But the only problem with Butch, is he will swim you untill your arms fall off. The workouts he puts his kids through are rigerous. But, yes the ones that make it through it end up being great! You say all coach bowers had was numbers? That is a crock and you know it. Yeah, New Orleans has numbers, but look at his background as well! He has turned so many teams around it is absolutely rediculous, for you to underplay coach bowers' role in swimming is outrageous.
I swam with Pablo. He was coached by Mitch Ivey - another child molester banned from swimming for life. Not Don King. Don King had a sexual relationship with another swimmer at De Anza. I was there too!
Swam with him in 1991-1992 as PRIDE aquatics coach. He was touchy. His MO was to massage my then GF privately in his office while we were swimming or warming up. She'd get out mid sets and go get rub downs, not on deck, but in a small office witha small window. Hey Anna!! He hated me because he really liked my GF. I never paid. for almost 2 years. Just freeloaded and glad I did! He was a bitter old prick. He booted me from the team eventually, probably after he finally found out we were dating. After news broke of him touching, it all made sense. Yup, he was probably finger blasting my gf in private. My old teammates contacted me about this news and I was in California for many years by then.
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