A disciplinary hearing instituted by Swimming South Africa [SSA] ahead of a damaging multi-million rand lawsuit by two artistic swimmers has ended in failure, a lawyer for the two athletes said this week.
Laura Strugnell and Jessica Hayes-Hill are suing the national federation for R7.2-million over a bungled disciplinary process that cost them the chance of trying to qualify for the Paris Olympics that took place from July 27 to August 11 this year.
The two wanted to book their Games spot in the duet competition at the world championships in Doha early this year, but they were sent home without taking part after being found guilty at a disciplinary hearing staged in their absence.
They took the disciplinary ruling on appeal, where the process was deemed substantively and procedurally unfair.
That appeal judgment is a key part of their court action.
SSA, days after the Sunday Times wrote about the lawsuit, vowed in a press release to defend the action and have the appeal panel’s decision reviewed. They also called the conduct of the two swimmers deplorable and unprofessional.
But their lawyer David Burrows said the sports body had yet to file responding papers to the claim lodged in the Johannesburg high court in September.
Instead, they lined the women up for disciplinary action, dredging up a total of 46 wide-ranging charges detailing alleged breaches of behaviour in Qatar as well as at a training camp beforehand.
One accusation was that one of the women flirted with a strange man on the flight to Doha by having him massage her legs in view of her younger teammates.
Many of the charges focused on how the swimmers had been rude to the national artistic swimming team coaches, as they kept trying to arrange unapproved practice sessions for their duet routine under the eyes of coaches outside the South African squad.
None of their coaches familiar with their Olympic routine were accredited, and their attempt to get help from an accredited coach working with another nation, was also deemed to be in breach.
What the charges don’t mention is that less than three months before the crucial Doha competition, SSA finalised tougher qualifying standards for artistic and open-water swimming, as well as diving and water polo.
Strugnell and Hayes-Hill needed to finish 20th in Qatar to get to Paris.
But, apart from not having a personal coach, they were also drafted into a hastily arranged team-of-eight that had no Olympic possibilities.
There appears to have been a tension between their need to practise for the duet versus the team-of-eight. Then add to that their desperation to have an experienced, trusted coach oversee their duet exercises.
In essence, SSA had told them to lift the standard of their duet, and then — it would appear — did nothing to help them attain it.
Eight charges related to the legal action the swimmers had instituted.
The merits of SSA’s charges weren’t even debated at the most recent disciplinary hearing, with the case being dismissed off the bat.
The swimmers’ lawyer argued that the two could no longer be considered members of SSA because Article 19.2 of the organisation’s constitution stated: “Any members resorting to court/legal action to resolve a dispute will automatically cease to be a member.”
The arbiter agreed that the legal action by Strugnell and Hayes-Hill meant they were no longer members of SSA and, therefore, couldn’t be subjected to a hearing.
It’s not clear what SSA’s next line of action will be — SSA CEO Shaun Adriaanse didn’t respond to questions sent to him on WhatsApp on Friday — but they might have to contest the amounts listed in the damages.
In another blow SSA, after being threatened with legal action, apparently capitulated on their initial selection for the world junior diving championships that kick off in Rio de Janeiro today.
A disgruntled parent went to court to force SSA to include their child in the team, insisting they had qualified legitimately but were allegedly inexplicably omitted.
SSA relented, but the Sunday Times understands the parent will push forward with the application to challenge the lawfulness of two clauses in SSA’s constitution, including 19.2.
The other, article 14.3, states that any member taking legal action without following the dispute resolution process will have their membership immediately suspended.
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