Conduct Unbecoming

Back in 1976, when Jerry Ford was still President and Shirley Babashoff was still queen of American women's swimming, the muscular mermaids from the German Democratic Republic capped their dramatic rise to aquatic supremacy by taking 11 of 13 gold medals at the Montreal Olympics. This past summer, a band of upstart teenagers from the U.S., weaned on heavy weight-training programs and enticed by the prospect of increasingly available college scholarships, startled more than a few people at the World Championships in West Berlin by swiping nine gold medals while their supposedly awesome rivals managed only one.

The second annual USA Women's International Swimming Competition, held at Harvard's Blodgett Pool this past weekend, was supposed to be the German team's first shot at avenging their embarrassment at Berlin. At first glance, the meet results show that they did so with style: 7 gold medals and 2 U.S. Open records (basically equivalent to world records for yards). But the real story behind this weekend's gathering was the guests who didn't show up--among them Tracy Caulkins (five gold medals, four world records at Berlin), Joan Pennington (two golds, one silver), Kim Linehan (former 400-m. freestyle world record holder), and a few more of America's finest female fish.

At its annual convention in San Antonio which concluded early last month, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU)--the body which exercises virtually absolute control over all serious non-intercollegiate amateur swimming in this country--suspended 18 top U.S swimmers for violations of the organization's swimming Code of Conduct. It is mandatory that any athlete, coach, manager or chaperone sign the code (see box) before being allowed to represent the United States in international competition.

The suspensions resulted from two separate incidents in 1978. The first--which reportedly involves Caulkins, Pennington, Linehan, Cynthia Woodhead (3 golds, 2 silvers at the World Championships), Stephanie Elkins, Kim Dunson, Gina Layton, Dawn Rodighiero, Greg Jagenburg, Marc Foreman, and two other unidentified swimmers--occurred after the conclusion of a U.S.-USSR dual meet in Austin, Tex., last April. The swimmers had been attending a birthday party for an American team member, a party which sources claimed was sponsored by AAU money and attended by American coaches and Russian team members. Apparently, the swimmers violated curfew (said to be 11 p.m.), and thus incurred the wrath of the AAU: they were slapped with three-month suspensions barring them from representing the U.S. in any international competition, like that held in Cambridge this weekend.

"No one realized that it was that big a deal," said Nancy Hogshead, who escaped that wrath. "If I wasn't so tired from the meet. I would have been there too."

Caulkins, who like the others was eligible to participate in this weekend's festivities as a member of her AAU club but not the U.S. National Team, had similar sentiments. "I think some people misunderstood the Code of Conduct," the silver-toothed 15-year-old sensation said Friday night from her home in Nashville, Tenn., "because it was after the last day of competition and everything."

These suspensions actually affected only one major event--this weekend's meet. "It won't affect our training schedules, and there will still be some other fast meets this spring," said Caulkins, explaining why she decided not to pay her own way to Cambridge. The AAU customarily picks up travelling expenses for U.S. Team members. Hogshead agreed that "three months is zero," but both she and Woodhead expressed some mild disappointment that the strongest U.S. team wasn't present. AAU officials and U.S. team coach Jack Nelson tried to downplay the effect of the suspensions on the meet by keeping no running team scores and saying things like. "Let's concentrate on the swimmers that are here." But you just can't rob a bunch of 14 and 15 year old girls of their team spirit; after Saturday night's finals, for instance, the flagwaving American youngsters blurted out, "Give me a "U", Gimme an "S", Gimme an "A"; Whattaya got? United States of America, Land of the Free, Home of the Brave!!!" "It sure would have been nice if they were here." sure would have been nice if they were here." said the 14-year-old Woodhead, who swam in the meet for the Riverside. Calif. Aquatic Association despite her suspension, after the Germans racked up four of seven gold medals Saturday night.

The second incidence of code violations was less petty in nature, and more severe in its consequences for the athletes. It reportedly involved the use of drugs by five swimmers--Layton, Foreman, Beth Harrell, Steve Tallman, and Jan Ujevich--at a training camp in Colorado Springs, Colo. last August, while the American "B" Team was preparing for an upcoming dual meet with Canada. Four swimmers were suspended for two years with two years probation, while Ujevich, because she was a minor at the time, drew a one-year sentence with another year's probation. The International Subcommittee of the AAU's Competitive Swimming Committee, which levied all of the penalties, also recommended that two of the swimmers, Tallman and Foreman, be banned from all AAU competition (not just international meets) for the duration of their two year terms. If the suspensions remain unchanged and unchallenged, not only will they prevent all four world-class swimmers from participating in the 1980 Olympic Games, they could put a severe damper on the ability of both Foreman and Tallman to continue in competitive swimming.

There is little disagreement in the swimming community that some kind of code, after years of reported incidents of misbehavior by U.S. athletes, is necessary. "We're responsible," explained International Subcommittee chairman Mike Troy, "not only to these kids and their parents but to all kids who want to try out for the U.S. team, and to all the AAU members and cardholders who foot the bill for the trips. When a kid makes the U.S. team, we have to guarantee to everyone involved that a certain standard of behavior will be maintained. We have a difficult situation here--13 and 14 year old girls going on international trips with 23 and 24 year-old guys. The fathers of the guys might not care too much what their kids do, but you can be damn sure that the mothers of the girls care."

The AAU, of course, has every right to promulgate and enforce the code as it sees fit. "We made the mistake," admits Caulkins. "We signed the code and broke the rules, so I guess they had to do something. It probably would have been worse if they didn't do anything." The catch is that the code must be signed if a swimmer wants to be on a national team--there is no choice. "It (the suspension of Caulkins and the others at Austin) could just as easily have been two years, and that would have been it," said American team member Nancy Hogshead, underlining the helplessness of an athlete before a body whose rulings can be both absolute and arbitrary. The AAU seems to have been purposely harsh in enforcing the code for the first time since it was adopted in August 1977. "It is our contention that these kinds of things won't happen again," declared Troy, in a telephone interview from his home in Chula Vista, Calif. "If it does, either the swimmers are pretty foolish or we have a code that's unenforceable."

Ray Essick, former coach of the Harvard swim team and now head swimming administrator for the AAU, claimed that "there was a lot of compassion and concern on the part of the committee. There was a complete hearing procedure," explained Essick, who guided the Crimson to a 29-1 dual meet record between 1973 and 1976. "All athletes were notified and given a chance to represent themselves."

Despite assertions by both Troy and subcommittee member George Haines, highly acclaimed coach from Foxcatcher A.C. in Philadelphia, that the vast majority of athletes and coaches applauding the rulings, there seemed to be some muffled dissatisfaction with the trivial nature of the offense in the one case and the harshness of the penalty in the other. "I don't see how they have the right to do that to Marc," said Gina Layton, who was unwilling to comment on her own case, but "had no idea why the penalties were so harsh for those two (Tallman and Foreman)." Layton's bewilderment evoked memories of other chapters in the AAU's illustrious past. Time magazine reported one incident several years ago in which the AAU suspended Fort Lauderdale swimmer Jamie Nelson for three years for saying that a certain brand of break-fast cereal had helped her recover faster from a pulled muscle. She was five years old at the time. Renowned labor negotiator Theodore Kheel, commenting on the results of a 27 month inquiry revolving around the notorious AAU-NCAA rivalry for control of amateur athletics (and athletes) back in 1968, declared in exasperation that "these people make the Teamsters look like undernourished doves."

Sordid past notwithstanding, the AAU's recent actions were marked by what seemed like a concerted effort to prevent the story from getting out. The convention at which the suspensions were levied ended on Dec. 3, 1978, and no announcement was made. On December 9, the New York Times broke the news of the suspensions and included speculation concerning the identities of the athletes. On December 11th, the AAU released an official statement confirming the Times story, in which it claimed that the news of the suspensions had not been made public in order to allow time for each of the athletes to be notified by certified mail. The AAU refused at this time, as it continues to do, to release the names of the swimmers involved.

Essick claimed at last Thursday's pre-meet press conference that this was done at the request of the swimmers--although on Friday night Caulkins said that she, for one, had made no such request. So it remains unclear whether the request for secrecy was initiated by the swimmers or the AAU; Mike Troy, when pressed, would only state that it was done "with the approval" of those swimmers present at the hearing.

Despite its claims of propriety and complaints about "innacuracies" in the reporting of the incident, the AAU has remained particularly reticent about the suspension controversy. When asked about Caulkins' absence at the press conference, Essick stated simply that "She was not named to the national team." When reporters who were aware of the suspensions questioned him further, Essick stated flatly that "We will not discuss the individuals or the circumstances of the suspensions." "I guess they figured it would get out of hand," was Caulkins reaction to the AAU's closed door treatment of the issue. Some swimmers felt the AAU's, desire for secrecy a bit more strongly. Minutes after telling a Boston Globe reporter that the rules were unnecessary, that she thought three months was too severe a penalty in light of the fact that curfews are broken all the time, and that she thought the way the AAU handled the whole thing was "rotten," Cynthia "Sippy" Woodhead told members of the press that "I'm not supposed to talk about that at all," under orders from her coach.

The AAU's silence points to a seeming contradiction in the way it handles public reaction to its vast authority. "We have nothing to hide," claimed a slightly annoyed Mike Troy in reference to the many questions raised about the AAU's decision to eschew disclosure of the full details. "I just think it's unfortunate," he added moments later, "that this thing got out in the press."