Post by SSHoya on Jul 13, 2023 12:18:55 GMT -5
An investigation by The Post revealed a years-long trail of records documenting allegations against Groom, including hundreds of pages of police reports, emails, text messages and diary entries. In those records, and in interviews, male and female athletes claimed Groom verbally and physically abused them. Two rowers he trained as underage girls, including his alleged victim in Santa Ynez, said they now believe he sexually groomed them. The results of those alleged abuses, athletes and their parents say, were devastating: suicidal ideation, persistent panic attacks and rowers abandoning a sport once central to their lives.
But Groom had a long record of seeing his athletes recruited by universities such as Harvard, Stanford and Princeton, and tapped for prestigious national teams. So with few exceptions, parents stuck by him, even moving to California so their children could be closer.
Then, in the summer of 2021, one of his favored athletes accused him of attempting to sexually assault her. He was 48; she was 17. That began the unraveling of Groom’s career, and with it soul-searching by some rowers and parents as to why they ignored for so long what they now see as obvious warning signs.
Groom’s résumé fit the ideal. He was the captain of Georgetown University’s lightweight crew team in the mid-1990s and is enshrined in the university’s athletic hall of fame. He rowed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, crediting his success to training at an intensity rarely seen on this continent. One of his Olympic coaches, Emil Kossev, was a former Bulgarian national team star.
In April, Groom’s Santa Ynez accuser sued him; his boathouse, Mission Rowing; and his business partner, Carol Nagy, claiming she and the boathouse “did nothing to protect” the girl and other minor athletes. Groom has not yet responded in court. In emails to The Post, Nagy denied knowledge of any misconduct by Groom other than the alleged molestation, which she called his “only verified transgression.” Nagy blamed the alleged victim and her parents, for allowing her to “visit her male coach in the middle of the night.”
www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2023/07/13/conal-groom-rowing-coach-allegations/
But Groom had a long record of seeing his athletes recruited by universities such as Harvard, Stanford and Princeton, and tapped for prestigious national teams. So with few exceptions, parents stuck by him, even moving to California so their children could be closer.
Then, in the summer of 2021, one of his favored athletes accused him of attempting to sexually assault her. He was 48; she was 17. That began the unraveling of Groom’s career, and with it soul-searching by some rowers and parents as to why they ignored for so long what they now see as obvious warning signs.
Groom’s résumé fit the ideal. He was the captain of Georgetown University’s lightweight crew team in the mid-1990s and is enshrined in the university’s athletic hall of fame. He rowed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, crediting his success to training at an intensity rarely seen on this continent. One of his Olympic coaches, Emil Kossev, was a former Bulgarian national team star.
In April, Groom’s Santa Ynez accuser sued him; his boathouse, Mission Rowing; and his business partner, Carol Nagy, claiming she and the boathouse “did nothing to protect” the girl and other minor athletes. Groom has not yet responded in court. In emails to The Post, Nagy denied knowledge of any misconduct by Groom other than the alleged molestation, which she called his “only verified transgression.” Nagy blamed the alleged victim and her parents, for allowing her to “visit her male coach in the middle of the night.”
www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2023/07/13/conal-groom-rowing-coach-allegations/