2012 Olympian Ariana Kukors appeared on CBS This Morning today, going into more detail on her allegations that former coach Sean Hutchison groomed and abused her as a minor.
Kukors appeared alongside her attorney, Bob Allard, who has represented many victims of sexual abuse within swimming. Over the course of the eight-minute interview, Kukors talks about the early stages of the ‘grooming’ process as well as the impact going public with her accusations has had on her.
You can watch the full video of the interview on CBS’s website here, or watch the embedded video below:
Kukors said she hit “a new low point” in her life in October and began therapy, eventually realizing she needed to face the abuse she says happened when she was a minor. She says writing out her story in full (you can read the full piece here) was a “huge step in the healing process.”
Hutchison, meanwhile, has categorically denied any grooming or sexual abuse, saying the two were in a relationship after the 2012 Olympics, when Kukors was 23.
Asked about the specifics of the grooming process, Kukors said Hutchison started with small steps, like requiring his swimmers to shake his hand after each practice. But she says he continued escalating the coach/swimmer relationship to gain more control over her.
“It’s creating this relationship where you rely on this person for everything and you go to him for everything,” Kukors said. “And so as he guided me through this relationship of manipulation and control, he fully had control over me and prepared me for each step.”
Kukors recounts the praise she says Hutchison heaped on her to isolate her from others.
“The things he told me constantly were ‘you’re the most impressive person I’ve ever met.’ ‘I see things in you that your sisters don’t see in you, that your parents don’t see in you’,” Kukors said, going on to say the behavior is typical of predators. “They put you on a pedestal. And they put you there so that nobody can help you.”
A tearful Kukors also addresses what has become the central concern in the ongoing problem of abuse by coaches in both swimming and sports in general.
“We have conversations with kids about ‘don’t talk to strangers,’ ‘your privates are your own, they should not be touched by other people’,” Kukors said. “But… what happens when there’s a person that your parents see as a voice of authority, that they’d fully trust, that your family trusts, that your community is praising? What happens when that person abuses that power and takes advantage of you?”
You can read more about the ongoing story involving Kukors and Hutchison here:
- Kukors accuses Hutchison of grooming and sexual abuse
- Hutchison denies allegations of grooming and sexual abuse
- Kukors publishes details about her story on her website
- USA Swimming says it investigated Hutchison/Kukors relationship in 2010, but did not find wrongdoing or hear any allegations that the relationship occurred when Kukors was a minor
- Former National Team head coach Mark Schubert says he reported an alleged Hutchison/Kukors relationship to Hutchison’s boss in 2010
So do we get to see the pics or not?
enuff said
Here is reality . Kukors is world champ 2009 & when did the Laure Manadou pics get posted on the internet ? ( To his credit Sean has not posted hers ) So she must have been very aware of the situation .
Im not so sympathetic of girls that both want all the excitement of x activity thru their youth & early adult & have regrets later . Its become an epidemic . Perhaps in sport it is time to look at the mix of dominance , submission , training & pain . Then onto how to protect children .
One thought is in a small program to limit the hours of contact between children & coach to… Read more »
When I watched the video, and listened to Ariana’s eloquent and emotional words, I recalled reading about much the same process endured by Kelley Davies Currin at the hands of Rick Curl. This grooming process is in itself diabolical, but pay attention to what goes on during the sexual abuse, as discussed by both Ariana and Kelly.
Both victims were isolated socially by their abusers. Both were under the impression that their coach was the very source of anything and everything they needed. Both victims’ thought processes were distorted by these men, in a way that kept them captive and even more vulnerable. Both were left with tremendous emotional and psychological harm, during and after, when the world fell… Read more »
Completely agree with everything you state Eagle!
I wish Rick Curl would stop giving my comments down-votes. He probably has access to the internet, since he’s now a free man after serving only 3 years of a seven year stretch.
Victim impact statement by Kelley Currin. More about the controlling nature of a child sexual predator.
http://concussioninc.net/?p=7539
I think it’s BS. I don’t think they had any sexual connections until she was 16 and she obviously gave him consent. I don’t think there was any “grooming” because someone else would’ve noticed if it was at the pool or anywhere.
HSWIMMER – “I don’t think.” x 2 < Yup!
Wow. Sounds like “grooming” is obvious in hindsight and that seemingly every supportive act by the coach in this case was in furtherance of his end goal. It also sounds like everyone has their own definition of what is, or is not, grooming conduct and that building any kind of widely-accepted definition will yield a strict prohibition on any form of physical contact whatsoever between coaches and swimmers of all ages. Better safe than sorry.
No Joe, that is not what it means. What it means is that parents cannot let their guard down what so ever when it comes to protecting their children, especially when it revolves around spending time with an adult, especially one in a supervisory position. It means not just listening to what your child says, but asking questions about their interactions with the adult, letting them know that is it never appropriate for another adult to suggest that it is OK for the child and that adult keep a secret from the parent, it means observing the “innocent” interactions of the adult with your child as well as others and look for nuances that may indicate ulterior motives, it means… Read more »
I think there’s too much focus on symptoms that, like Joe B says, can only be indentified after the fact. If you were to take any of the behaviors described and turn the volume up (he gave every athlete a side-arm hug after practice) or turn the volume down (he stood a the exit and said, “Good bye, good job tonight” to every athlete) anybody’s judgement of what is and is not appropriate will be pretty subjective. So addressing the symptoms, like any disease, is only going to get you so far, and probably not very far at that.
So what about the disease? I think there’s a little too much focus on the most obvious culprit – the… Read more »
High fives, fist bump for high school and age groupers = ok. Hugging a college athlete after scoring at NCAA’s – No worries there. “Making” or “forcing” age group and high school girls to shake your hand after practice = weird.
It never is equal relationship with coach and swimmer, even as adults. So no relationship is equal. Simple as that, get some other female / male companions and enjoy your occupation.
Kukors said Hutchison started with small steps, like requiring his swimmers to shake his hand after each practice. Know every coach that shakes the hand of a swimmer is going to be question by parents. This is a respect thing that was turned bad. If the had shake is held for a long time it’s an issue.
I guess coaches won’t be able to shake a swimmers hand anymore, give them high fives, or god forbid give them a hug after a great race. I know Hutchinson isn’t the only coach that shakes his swimmers hands, and that certainly doesn’t mean that the other coaches are ‘grooming’ their swimmers.
It does if they are sleeping with their swimmers.
and taking nude pictures of them.
…you might be missing the point?
Art, please see my reply above to “Questions” comment, which is actually my reply to STEVE FRIEDERANG’s post on the previous Shubert story thread.
It might help to put into context what “grooming for sexual abuse” involves and how parents need to be ALWAYS vigilant of ANY adult their child is spending time with away from the parents direct supervision, no matter how trusted and liked that adult may be. Yeah, that’s a pain in the a$$, but certainly not nearly as much of a pain as having to witness what Ariana’s parents are dealing with now!
Brad – if you want to post the reply in response to the comment you meant to, feel free and I can delete the old one. Let me know.
Hey Braden, thanks for the offer, but all posts are where they should be. Copying & pasting (and giving credit where it came from) was easier than recreating the content of the post.
I’m living in Belize now, so posting from a foreign IP address (when I don’t have my VPN engaged) seems to cause delays in my posts appearing here, but I’ve learned patience will see that everything gets posted to the correct thread/position eventually.
Thanks for your, and all the SwimSwam staff’s, work!
Nothing wrong with hand shakes and high fives after good races but I personally see hugging a crossing a line in the swimmer-coach relationship. Maybe it’s just me but it seems too personal and physical. Unless you just made the Olympic team/ won an olympic medal I don’t really see the need for it
i hugged my coach after my last race in hs… damn, i was abused
So if you’re really good then a hug is appropriate? But those pathetic sectional, regional, state or even national level swimmers haven’t eared it right? A 6 year old completes their first 50 fly legally and they come over for a hug and you respond, “come back to me when you’ve actually accomplished something”
You nailed it! That is the mentality of a lot of people, especially USA Swimming – only the very elite MATTER. This mentality is the reason USA Swimming failed to take responsibility for what happened at the club levels and refused to help when athletes were abused and retaliated against. They chose to distance themselves from the clubs and LSC’s even though they were 100% responsible for overseeing these institutions. Right, “come back to me when you’ve accomplished something”, but even though you make the Olympic team there is no guarantee we will protect you, there is no guarantee we won’t abuse you, there is no guarantee we won’t use you as a pawn on a hearing panel. It’s become… Read more »
Kukors horrifying tale does raise legit questions about lines/boundaries. Most coaches are great coaches because they know their swimmers/athletes well. In her interview she made it seem like any questions about life outside of pool are out of bounds– maybe her sister and parents didn’t believe she get the Olympics and Sean said yes you can? I have no doubt that she was abused and she should not be blamed for her abuse but I have a disagreement with her about ALL care (including handshakes where the coach asks the swimmers how they’re doing) outside of swimming specific conversations is considered grooming–that’s a stretch (obviously swimmers should not be meeting in hotel rooms with their coaches by themselves!!!)
Questions, this post is copied from a reply on the “Shubert” thread on this same subject. It might help you to understand the dynamic of “grooming for sexual abuse” and that all those “innocent” behaviors are truly innocent, except when used as part of the “grooming for sexual abuse” dynamic. Hope it helps.
Begin post:
Steve, All well stated and thought out, however you are not taking into consideration a full understanding of the “art” of “grooming for sexual abuse”.
If you watched the CBS This Morning interview with Ariana today (available in another SwimSwam article posted today) and do even a minor attempt at researching “grooming for sexual abuse”, you would realize that the beginning steps in the “grooming… Read more »
You hit it right on the head with this description about grooming.
and the parents are groomed right along with the swimmer….thinking everything is legit. I can imagine how confusing this was for her….here she’s training with one of the best coaches in the country….she wants to do so well and has Olympic dreams and aspirations…..and here is her coach creating a horrible environment for her that no 15 year old should ever have to figure out on their own. I’m sure it took her years to figure out how screwed up this all was not to mention the shame….trying to convince herself that it was some ‘love’ story that Sean kept insisting it was. All the while her youth and young adulthood were stolen from her. How much of a price… Read more »
Grooming is real. A.K. was abused and not at fault. However, the signs of grooming are not helpful to anyone. Her interview, on this topic, was not helpful because all good coaches care about the whole swimmer. The keys is to teach kids about boundaries and when a coach or person in power crosses them and tries to make it seem normal.
This is especially hard when teenagers like their independence and actually want to have secrets. Still, handshakes, high fives, the occasional hug, being extra nice, asking about someone’s day are far to vague to be signals of other monstrous things to come. Just not credible signs for parents to be on the look out for. There is… Read more »