Jamie Thomas, who is the owner and formerly the head coach of New South Swimming in North Carolina, has been charged with misdemeanor sexual misconduct after being arrested in Alabama, and has been released on a $500 bond according to the Charlotte Observer.
Thomas was arrested on September 18th, though he has been on leave from coaching since July.
According to the Observer, Thomas accepted a temporary suspension from USA Swimming pending the outcome of the proceedings.
New South Swimming has produced several high-level swimmers in the last decade, including at least one former National Team member.
Parents should remember that it is never a good idea to allow your child to be in a position where they would be vulnerable to a predator.
I always accompanied my swimmer and was often derided for not allowing my swimmer to travel alone to meets with the coach. When I saw one coach acting inappropriately I reported it to LSC. But was told it was not anything they worried about as they allowed teams owned by Coaches to police themselves. Many times parents think that if their swimmer is singled out by a coach and taken on trips individually, it is a good thing. But it isn’t always and any time you have a coach that insists that… Read more »
very good advice…from a coach to a parent, thank you
He turned himself in. Innocent until proven guilty doesn’t apply when there is an admission of guilt.
Turning yourself in means you aren’t fleeing from charges. It doesn’t mean you are admitting guilt.
Running away and hiding makes you look guilty. I don’t know what he is accused of, nor do I know if he did whatever it is he’s supposed to have done, but turning yourself in means confronting the accusations, not admitting to them.
What happened to “innocent until proven guilty?” People are acting like a trial has already happened a verdict has been reached. An accusation is not always a truth. And does anyone know exactly what he’s being accused of? Does anyone know what he did? Or are people just assuming the worst? A $500 bond isn’t a lot…
I know several of his top level swimmers, and they’re staying with the team. That should say a lot right there.
Obviously he didn’t want this to surface, apparently it occurred January 2013. The article stated he wanted to take a “break,” sorry he was hoping it would go away. He can’t return to the sport in any capacity.
Of course he didn’t want this to surface, who wants the whole swimming world to know that you’ve been accused of sexual misconduct? Not wanting people to know of the accusation does not make him guilty. Even if he turns out to be innocent, his reputation is forever tarnished.
I stand corrected, many of his top swimmers stayed. $500.00 bond is like a traffic ticket I guess.
Thankfully, this has been made public. Many in the Charlotte swim community have heard rumors about this incident for quite some time. I would hope that backgroud checks would prohibit him from working around children in the future. It’s disgusting, a coach doing this, someone who the child probably looked up to.
Does it have something to do with the fact that swim coaches spend so much time with their “pupils,” more time than their parents can ever be around to supervise?
What in the he** is up with all of the deviant swim coaches? I was a USAS coach for many years and really enjoy the sport of swimming, but I am really becoming hesitant on letting my children swim year-round. It seems like something like this pops once a month here lately.
My personal fast answer: Sexualizing children on runways, beauty contests, media and even MTV (I am looking at you Hanna Montana). Substantially more girls swimming than boys (most of the molesters are men). Accessible child porn on the internet and the complete and total breakdown of character and personal restraint.
hannah montana is dead and burried. we’re seeing miley cyrus as the adult this child grew up into. that plus said internet comments should sum it up. swimming is not alone in this. it just seems swimming is a more tightly knit community word gets around faster
These are just the cases that make it to the news. I’m sure there are many, many, many more cases that will never see the light of day. I know of two cases that were reported to USA Swimming and are being investigated by law enforcement but have not made it in the news. I know that some cities do not publish crime reports so their property values stay high.
It is easy to get caught in the trap of assuming that the problems faced with USAS is somehow worse than the problem in general society, but we all need to get some perspective. We are reading news that pertains to swimming, so news reports on deviant SWIM coaches is what is reported.
If instead, we were on a news site devoted to soccer or teachers, we would likely be shocked at the number of deviants in those fields too. A quick google search will demonstrate that those two occupations have there fair share of deviants as well.
can usa-s prevent a person from owning the business? that seems like a violation of the constitutional rights.
coach – they can prevent a person from being a member, and require someone to be a member to own a club.
No, though, they cannot prevent someone from owning a swim club. Just from owning a USA Swimming swim club.
So after an arrest of this nature the club owner can earn money from a youth sport? That’s the constitutional right you are fighting for?
Yes, the predator has that constitutional right.
You can be banned as a coach by USA Swimming but it is up to the law, generally via parole or the probational system, from disallowing the predator to work or be around youth activities in exchange for freedom.
Wow, so as a club owner he or she could be on deck “managing” his/her business?
Unfortunately, yes, that is if the predator was found not guilty or served out the entirety of his/her prison sentence and accepted no parole and rhetorically “paid their debt to society.”