Allegations of abuse against former Olympic rower, coach considered trustworthy, says investigation into US rowing

NEW YORK — USA Rowing has stripped a two-time Olympic medalist and nine-time Olympic coach of honors after an investigation found allegations that he sexually abused a teenage girl more than 50 years ago were credible.

The federation on Tuesday released a 154-page report on Ted Nash, who died in 2021. The report said Jennifer Fox’s allegations that Nash had groomed and sexually abused her in 1973 were credible. They met that year at a riding camp where Nash taught when he was 40 and Fox was 13.

Fox documented her experience in a 2018 film, “The Tale,” which she told investigators was a fictionalized account of the alleged abuse. The film did not name Nash, who was still alive at the time. experience – in which she revealed Nash’s identity – that led to the investigation.

“This whole process has been very, very difficult and the result is like removing a festering tumor from your body,” Fox told the newspaper on Tuesday.

The law firm that conducted the report was not asked to find legal evidence of abuse. Still, it said it interviewed nearly 50 witnesses who corroborated many of the allegations, “and we have not uncovered evidence that expressly refutes Ms. Fox’s allegations or suggests a motive for Ms. Fox.

Among the report’s findings was that a third party turned over details of the case to the U.S. Center for SafeSport, which assumed jurisdiction over the matter but administratively closed the case, in part because Nash had already died.

Fox turned to US Rowing, which said in a press release “we determined that the seriousness of Ms. Fox’s allegations outweighed Mr. Fox’s incapacity to do so.”

USA Rowing rescinded all honors it had given Nash, including the 2005 Man of the Year and the 2013 USA Rowing Medal of Honor.

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