Michael Pliuskaitis has been added to USA Swimming’s list of Individuals Permanently Suspended or Ineligible after losing his appeal. The official date of the ban is August 6th, 2012, though it only became official this week.
“USA Swimming has permanently suspended Michael Pliuskaitis for a violation of Sections 304.3.5 of the 2010 Code of Conduct, 304.3.7 of the 2011 Code of Conduct, and 304.3.4 and 304.3.8 of the 2012 Code of Conduct and has added his name to the public list of individuals permanently suspended or ineligible,” a USA Swimming spokesperson said.
“On August 6, 2012 a hearing by the National Board of Review resulted in a permanent suspension of Pliuskaitis’s USA Swimming membership. Pliuskaitis appealed the National Board of Review’s decision and asked that he not be banned for life from the organization. The appeal panel upheld the decision of the National Board of Review to permanently suspend Mr. Pliuskaitis from membership and add his name to the public list of individuals suspended for life from USA Swimming.”
There are several sections cited in his permanent ban:
304.3.5 Any sexual conduct, advance or other inappropriate sexually oriented behavior or action directed towards an athlete by (i) a coach member or other non-athlete member, or (ii) any other adult participating in any capacity whatsoever in the affairs or activities of USA Swimming (whether such adult is a member or not). Any nonconsensual physical sexual conduct, or pattern of unwelcome advances or other sexual harassment in connection with or incidental to a USA Swimming-related activity by any person participating in the affairs or activities of USA Swimming (whether such person is a member or not) directed toward any member or other person participating in the affairs or activities of USA Swimming.
304.3.7 Any sexual conduct, advance or other inappropriate sexually oriented behavior or action directed towards an athlete by (i) a coach member or other non-athlete member, or (ii) any other adult participating in any capacity whatsoever in the affairs or activities of USA Swimming (whether such adult is a member or not). Any nonconsensual physical sexual conduct, or pattern of unwelcome advances or other sexual harassment in connection with or incidental to a USA Swimming-related activity by any person participating in the affairs or activities of USA Swimming (whether such person is a member or not) directed toward any member or other person participating in the affairs or activities of USA Swimming.
305.3.4 Violation of any of the Athlete Protection Policies set forth in Article 305
304.3.8 Any inappropriate sexual conduct or advance, or other oral, written, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature directed towards an athlete by (i) a coach member or other non-athlete member, or (ii) any other adult participating in any capacity whatsoever in the activities of USA Swimming (whether such adult is a member or not). Any act of sexual harassment, including without limitation unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature in connection with or incidental to a USA Swimming-related activity by any person participating in the affairs or activities of USA Swimming (whether such person is a member or not) directed toward any member or other person participating in the affairs or activities of USA Swimming.
Pliuskatis has coached at several teams, including Swimtec LLC and SNOW Swimming, predominantly on the East Coast.
EDITOR NOTE: This story was edited to remove a swimmer’s name. The swimmer merely swam under the coach years ago and occasionally over the last few years. Due to the sensitive nature of this topic, we felt the swimmer was right in requesting that their name be removed.