The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and USA Swimming have announced the official punishments for four Olympic swimmers involved in an incident at a gas station bathroom in Brazil.
The USOC’s press release confirms yesterday’s report that Ryan Lochte would serve a 10-month suspension and be rendered ineligible for the 2017 FINA World Championships.
In addition, Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and Jimmy Feigen will all serve 4-month suspensions that will keep them out of national team competitions through the end of the calendar year.
Bentz, being under 21, also has to serve 10 hours of community service for breaking USA Swimming’s curfew rules for athletes under 21.
Here are the major points of the full penalties for all four:
- 10-month suspension
- Will miss 2017 Nationals, which means he is unable to qualify for 2017 Worlds
- No monthly USA Swimming stipend during suspension
- 20 hours community service
- Not allowed to visit White House with Olympic team
- Not allowed to attend Golden Goggles
- 4-month suspension
- No monthly USA Swimming stipend during suspension
- Not allowed to visit White House with Olympic team
- Not allowed to attend Golden Goggles
- 4-month suspension
- No monthly USA Swimming stipend during suspension
- Not allowed to visit White House with Olympic team
- Not allowed to attend Golden Goggles
- 10 hours community service
For Bentz and Conger, there’s no word yet on how this will affect their NCAA eligibility for the fall season, but the suspension will keep Bentz, Conger and Feigen out of the running for the U.S. Short Course World Championships, which take place in December. USA Swimming’s Winter Nationals are also ruled out due to this suspension.
Here’s the full USOC release:
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The United States Olympic Committee and USA Swimming today jointly announced disciplinary measures for four members of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Swimming Team. Due to violations of each organization’s code of conduct, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger, James Feigen and Ryan Lochte have agreed to serve suspensions and forfeit certain rewards and opportunities afforded to members of the U.S. Olympic Team.
The following sanctions have been agreed upon:
Applicable to Ryan Lochte:
1. Suspended from domestic and international USA Swimming national team competitions for 10 months (through June 30, 2017), including the 2017 National Championships, which renders him ineligible for the 2017 FINA World Championships.
2. During the suspension, no monthly stipend from USA Swimming or the USOC.
3. During the suspension, no direct support or access to training centers or other facilities of the USOC.
4. Forfeits all USOC and USA Swimming medal funding for his gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games.
5. Will perform 20 hours of community service.
6. Not permitted to join Team USA for its White House visit in connection with the Rio 2016 Games.
7. Not permitted to attend USA Swimming’s annual “Golden Goggles” event in 2016.Applicable to Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and James Feigen:
1. Suspended from domestic and international USA Swimming national team competitions for four months (through Dec. 31, 2016).
2. During the suspension, no monthly stipend from USA Swimming or the USOC.
3. During the suspension, no direct support or access to training centers or other facilities of the USOC.
4. Not permitted to join Team USA for its White House visit in connection with the Rio 2016 Games.
5. Not permitted to attend USA Swimming’s annual “Golden Goggles” event in 2016.Further applicable to Gunnar Bentz due to violating a USA Swimming Olympic Village curfew rule placed on athletes under the age of 21:
1. Will perform 10 hours of community service.
“As we have said previously, the behavior of these athletes was not acceptable. It unfairly maligned our hosts and diverted attention away from the historic achievements of Team USA,” said USOC CEO Scott Blackmun. “Each of the athletes has accepted responsibility for his actions and accepted the appropriate sanctions. We look forward to focusing our energy on the Paralympic Games and the incredible men and women representing our country in Rio.”
“During an otherwise extraordinary Olympic Games, a small group of athletes had lapses in judgement and conduct that are unacceptable and not consistent with our expectations. When Code of Conduct infractions occur, it’s our responsibility to take action that reflects the seriousness of what happened,” USA Swimming Executive Director Chuck Wielgus said. “Unfortunately, this storyline took attention away from the athletes who deserved it the most. These athletes took accountability for their mistakes and are committed to represent themselves and our country with the great character and distinction we expect.”
The sanctions take effect immediately.
FINA has also published a statement saying it supported the USOC/USA Swimming sanctions but would not impose any further punishments on the four:
Regarding the case of the four US swimmers whose behaviour at Rio 2016 has resulted in suspensions from the US Olympic Committee and USA Swimming, and now that the key facts have been established, FINA considers the sanctions applied as proportionate, adequate and sufficient. FINA notes the addition of Community Service, as imposed by the IOC Disciplinary Commission.
In light of these measures, FINA will not apply additional sanctions and will implement those now imposed on the swimmers at all FINA events.
People keep comparing MP and Lochte’s punishment. They forget that 1. The length of suspension is strategic with the goal of keeping both athletes out of the following World’s competition which it is achieved in both cases. 2. Lochte’s offense was directly related to his membership of US swimming and USOC as he was in Rio representing his country and the organization while MP’s was because of who he is. I’ll wager that many members of the team have done worse than MP or equal to, and have gotten away with it. In that moment he was going to be punished by law, but USA swimming got involved because of his celebrity, not because of his membership.
I remember… Read more »
I am sorry, but this is an absolutely ridiculous punishment by USA Swimming. This entire thing was blown wayyy out of proportion by the media and now the punishments are overly harsh for a crime that wasn’t a big deal in the first place. I am positive the Rio Police exaggerated the incident to a certain extent as well trying to make the Americans look bad. MP got six months after a DUI, but Lochte gets 10 after a lie gets magnified through the media?? This sounds a lot like our disturbed justice system that puts away people with petty crimes but lets off people with major crimes. Completely and utterly disappointed.
Not being allowed to visit the White House is a bummer, but not attending the Golden Goggles (as a punishment) is kind of hilarious! Who even cares about the Golden Goggles?
Not being allowed to attend the Golden Goggles us a bummer, but who even cares about visiting the White House?
The only mistake Bentz and Conger made (other than one of them violating curfew) was hanging out with Lochte. Swim teams have the “elite swimmers” whom the younger CBA swimmers look up to; here you had two young college students who made the relay looking up to Lochte, a 32 year old man who should know better. How were these two swimmers supposed to go to the press against Lochte? What if the video that showed Lochte lied did not exist? Then what? Who would USA Swimming believe – star swimmer Lochte or two college students who barely made the olympic team? Bentz and Conger imo should not face suspension or not being allowed to go to the White House… Read more »
Lochte was portrayed as a liar by people who have since been proven to be liars. There should have been no criticism directed at any of the swimmers once it was established that their accused were liars.
I know, right? It’s like they should have “get out of jail free” cards because someone else may have done something wrong, too.
Plus the language barrier made it hard to know whether he actually lost his wallet and over $400, or if it was in his back pocket the entire time. I mean, these things can be hazy when you’re loaded and giving internationally-televised interviews.
Whatevs. Time to go pee on something again.
We are not talking about just anyone else we are talking about their accusers. I think people bought into the Brazilian lies in this case, and they are just making excuses to defend a position they took earlier. If it is hard to know whether his wallet was stolen are not, then is entitled to the benefit of the doubt when we are talking about punishment for him. I don’t doubt that they were robbed, but if you doubt it do you want punishment without any proof?
Two wrongs don’t make a right. The police in Brazil, whether they lied or not, that does not take away the fact that Lochte urinated in public in a foreign country, took down a poster and then lied about what really happened – to the media, creating an international controversy that distracted everyone from the Olympic success our team had. Brazil has enough problems and does not need Lochte or anyone, to go to their country and behave the way Lochte did. The other 3 swimmers imo were caught in a situation caused by Lochte’s childish behavior
I think Feigen should have received a larger suspension, like 6 months, but the two college students….why are they being punished? Sure, one did not comply with curfew, but that offense should not carry a suspension or not going to the White House! Their only mistake was to be with Lochte in the first place. If you have seen competitive swim teams, telling on Lochte when he started lying to the press, is not something that would be easy for these two swimmers who were there just for relays. Lochte should be the one punished more severely, like getting kicked off the national team. I just saw an article with the names of the 2016-17 National team members and Lochte’s… Read more »
Suspension for violating team rules is entirely appropriate, and four months is not overly harsh (especially starting in the dead time right after the Olympics).
And have you considered the possibility that the White House may have communicated privately that these four are not welcome at what is essentially a PR event? Politicians love to be seen with unequivocal heroes, whereas they don’t want to be seen inviting any more scandal than they can avoid. Right now, these guys are easy to avoid.
You are right, it could have been the White House’s request, and perhaps punishing the two college students will serve as an example for other young swimmers: do not violate the code of conduct, represent your country the way you are expected to, but also: don’t follow elite athletes like Lochte just because they are “star swimmers.”
All USA Swimming competitors have to sign a Code of Conduct when they travel as a team, whether they are age groupers or older. I do not know if the Code of Conduct is uniform across the board. I know that Bentz violated a Code of Conduct at least once in his high school career. Sadly, there were no ramifications for him then, so why be surprised that he chose, at under 21, to violate the Code of Conduct again? At some point, it behooves an organization to enforce the rules so as to set an example for those who think about violating them in the future.
Free Lochte
Lochte made mistakes here for sure. Poking the bear and embarrassing Rio with an embellished story of that nights events was not the smart move. Losing sponsors and changing the American public overall discussions of him I think is punishment enough. Not even being able to attend the White House? Not being able to compete for 10 months so he has no ability to compete in 2017 Worlds? He is not the best communicator or media savy and I get that he caused a media scandal that was an embarrassment…. But this is how we treat our top athletes that compete clean? The guy is a FISH and has accomplished more in the pool than most. I often think he… Read more »
I disagree: Lochte may be a great athlete and swimmer, but his lies sent two countries into a chaos that did not need to exist. And because of Lochte, two innocent people (the two college students who made the mistake to hang out with him) are being punished, probably for not contradicting Lochte’s lies. Lochte is an embarassment, and he should never represent the US again. Can you imagine if he did something similar in Tokyo? Young swimmers need to understand and see that Lochte’s behavior is wrong and behaving that way will have severe consequences. He should not be in the National Team anymore, imo: he is an embarassment plus it is time to retire, he did not even… Read more »