Robert Griswold

Robert Griswold (born November 27, 1996) is an American swimmer. He was a member of the 2016 and 2020 U.S. Paralympic Swimming Teams.[2] He holds multiple American and world paralympic swimming records in freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, and individual medleys.[3] He competes in the Paralympic classes S8/SB7/SM8, and has cerebral palsy that affects coordination and strength.[4] The United States Center for SafeSport temporarily suspended Griswold in 2020, reinstated him prior to the 2021 Paralympic Games, and then temporarily suspended him again in 2022, after he was accused of raping a fellow member of the US Paralympic Team at the 2021 Paralympic Games and thereafter; Griswold was later removed as a member of the US National Team.[5][6]

Robert Griswold
Personal information
National team United States
Born (1996-11-27) November 27, 1996[1]
Hickory, North Carolina
Height6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[1]
Weight160 lb (73 kg)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBackstroke, freestyle, butterfly
ClassificationsS8, SB7, SM8
College teamCarson-Newman University, Fresno Pacific University, and Indiana State University
Medal record
Men's Paralympic swimming
Representing the  United States
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo 100 m backstroke S8
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo 100 m butterfly S8
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Rio de Janeiro 100 m backstroke S8
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2017 Mexico City 100 m backstroke S8
Gold medal – first place 2019 London 100 m backstroke S8
Gold medal – first place 2019 London 200 m ind. medley SM8
Gold medal – first place 2022 Madeira 100 m backstroke S8
Gold medal – first place 2022 Madeira 100 m butterfly S8
Gold medal – first place 2022 Madeira 200 m ind. medley SM8
Silver medal – second place 2017 Mexico City 200 m ind. medley SM8
Silver medal – second place 2017 Mexico City 400 m freestyle S8
Silver medal – second place 2019 London400 m freestyle S8
Silver medal – second place 2019 London 100 m butterfly S8
Silver medal – second place 2022 Madeira 100 m freestyle S8
Silver medal – second place 2022 Madeira 4x100 m freestyle relay 34pts
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Glasgow 400 m freestyle S8
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Mexico City 4x100 m medley relay 34pts
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Madeira 400 m freestyle S8

Early life

Griswold was born in Hickory, North Carolina, lived in Freehold Borough, New Jersey, and now lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado.[7][8] Raised in Freehold Township, New Jersey, he began swimming at the age of six at the Ocean County YMCA.[9][10] He competed for his high school swimming team, and was team captain and MVP.[9] Outside of athletics, he earned an Eagle Scout rank in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America, and organized a Paralympic Swimming Clinic to educate the community about disabilities and available opportunities.[4] He graduated from Freehold Township High School in 2015.[11]

Collegiate swimming career

Griswold competed for two NCAA Division II schools, Carson-Newman University in Tennessee and Fresno Pacific University in California during his NCAA swimming career that began fall 2015.[12][4][13] He also competed for Indiana State University, where graduated from in 2020 with a bachelor's degree in communications.[14][7][15] After college he began clerking at a law firm in St. Louis, Missouri.[16]

International swimming career

Griswold competed at his first international meet in 2014, and rose to prominence within the S8 classification initially gaining success in the distance freestyle events, winning his first world championships bronze in 2015.[4]

He followed up his World Championships medals by qualifying for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and winning a bronze medal in the 100 m backstroke. He also placed fourth in the 200 m individual medley and fifth in the 400 m freestyle.

In 2016 began an era of dominance in the S8 100m backstroke, winning the event at the 2017 World Championships and 2019 World Championships. He carried his success into the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games by winning the gold medal by 4.27 seconds and breaking the world record.[4]

At the 2017 World Championships he was the most decorated American male, with two gold medals and two silver medals[17] and was honored by being chosen as the flagbearer at the opening ceremonies.[18]

In addition to his gold medal in the 100m backstroke, Griswold won a gold medal in the 100m butterfly at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. He placed fourth in the 200 m individual medley and fifth in the 400 m freestyle.

At the 2022 World Para Swimming Championships,[19] Griswold claimed his third consecutive title in the 100 m backstroke S8. He also claimed world titles in the 100 m butterfly and 200 m individual medley. Griswold won silver medals in the 100 m freestyle and the 4x100 freestyle relay 34pts and a bronze medal in the 400 m freestyle.

Sexual assault allegations and lawsuit

In September 2020, the United States Center for SafeSport listed Griswold in its disciplinary database as having temporary restrictions for allegations of misconduct (which could cover a range of degrees of physical, emotional or sexual abuse).[20] One month later, SafeSport confirmed that Griswold was eligible to compete at the Paralympic Games.[5]

SafeSport's public disciplinary database indicated that Griswold was temporarily suspended on August 23, 2022, for allegations of misconduct in violation of the SafeSport Code, prohibiting him from practicing or competing at any event or facility under the U.S.O.P.C. or a national sports governing body while he was being investigated by SafeSport.[5][21]

On October 20, 2022, SwimSwam detailed allegations of sexual assault against Griswold. He has been accused of repeatedly raping and sexually abusing Parker Egbert, a fellow member of the United States Paralympic Team, at the Paralympic Games and thereafter, including in the room that SafeSport allowed Griswold to share with the claimant at the Paralympic Games in 2021.[22][5] Egbert, who is intellectually disabled and has autism, and has the mental capacity of a 5-year-old according to court filings, says that he was groomed by Griswold, and threatened with retaliation.[23]

Griswold was later removed as a member of the 2022 USA National Team.[24]

Egbert filed a civil lawsuit on November 11, 2022, against Griswold, the U.S. Center for SafeSport (for negligence, claiming SafeSport failed to protect Egbert from Griswold, despite previous complaints of sexual assault by Griswold having been made to SafeSport in 2020), and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee in federal court in Colorado.[25][26][5][6][27] The complaint alleged: "Remarkably, Defendant USOPC and Defendant U.S. Center for SafeSport ("SafeSport") allowed Griswold to supervise and share a bedroom with Plaintiff without any oversight, despite the fact that USOPC and SafeSport had received reports that Griswold was sexually assaulting other teammates," that "USOPC and SafeSport failed to inform Plaintiff's parents of the risks to their son due to his intimate and continuing proximity to Griswold, a known (or at the very least, suspected) sexual predator," and that "since its creation, SafeSport has faced significant scrutiny for its botched handling of abuse claims."[27][28][29][25] According to the complaint, the accuser suffered injuries that required rectal surgery.[25]

References
  1. "Robert Griswold Swimming". United States Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  2. Joel Clarke (July 3, 2016). "2016 U.S. Paralympic Swimming Team Roster announced after successful Trials in Charlotte". United States Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on August 19, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  3. Anne Lepesant (February 16, 2016). "Robert Griswold of CNU Breaks 4 American Records at BMC Championships". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on October 13, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  4. "Robert Griswold". TeamUSA.org. Archived from the original on September 10, 2021. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  5. Jenny Vrentas (November 14, 2022). "An American Paralympian Says He Was Sexually Abused by a Teammate; Parker Egbert, 19, said in a lawsuit that he was repeatedly assaulted by a fellow swimmer at the Tokyo Paralympics and a training center in Colorado.", The New York Times.
  6. Julianne McShane (November 15, 2022). "Teenage Paralympic swimmer accuses world record-holding teammate of sexual abuse". NBC News.
  7. "Robert Griswold - Swimming | Paralympic Athlete Profile". International Paralympic Committee.
  8. Filip Ozbolt (August 13, 2021). "Tokyo Paralympics preview: Para swimming day 4". International Paralympic Committee.
  9. "US Paralympic gold medalist swimmer Robert Griswold accused of raping team-mate". The Economic Times. November 13, 2022.
  10. Carino, Jerry. "Griswold sharing bronze from Rio", Asbury Park Press, September 27, 2016. Accessed November 19, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "The goal was a medal at the Paralympics. Robert Griswold achieved that, earning bronze in the 100-meter backstroke last month in Rio de Janeiro..... The Freehold Township native has much more ahead, starting with a visit to the White House."
  11. Brian Deakyne (July 3, 2016). "Robert Griswold, former Freehold Township swimmer, headed to the Olympics". NJ Advance Media. Archived from the original on August 19, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  12. "Former C-N swimmer and current USA Paralympic National Team member Robert Griswold sets new WR and gold in men's S8 100 backstroke at 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games". cneagles.com. August 27, 2021.
  13. Druckman, Max. "Robert Griswold: FTHS' Gold Medalist".
  14. "STATE magazine by Indiana State University". Issuu. Fall 2021.
  15. "Who Is Robert Griswold Team USA Paralympic Gold Medalist, His Age, Family, Medals, Disability". November 14, 2022.
  16. Munatones, Steven (February 24, 2021). "Robert Griswold Recovers From High Lactate Levels With Kaatsu". Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  17. "Medalists by event" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 30, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  18. "Swimming - Griswold Robert". Tokyo2020.org. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
  19. Gowdy, Kristen (April 14, 2022). "U.S. Paralympics Swimming Nominates 25 athletes to World Championship Roster". teamusa.org. Archived from the original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  20. Overend, Riley (October 21, 2022). "Paralympic Champion Robert Griswold Accused of Sexually Assaulting Teammate with Intellectual Disability". SwimSwam. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  21. "List of Individuals Permanently Suspended or Ineligible for Membership". USA Swimming. October 25, 2022.
  22. Zachary Dupont (November 14, 2022). "U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee covered up sexual abuse of athlete, lawsuit alleges". Yahoo.
  23. Ben Morse, Ronald Issy (November 13, 2022). "Paralympic gold medalist swimmer Robert Griswold accused of raping and abusing teammate". CNN. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  24.  Nina Golgowski (November 14, 2022). "Paralympic Gold Medalist Accused Of Raping, Abusing Swim Teammate". Huffington Post.
  25. Mike Rowbottom (November 13, 2022). "US Paralympic champion swimmer Griswold charged with sexual abuse of team-mate". Inside the Games.
  26. Charmaine Patterson (November 15, 2022). "Paralympic Swimmer Robert Griswold Accused of Sexually Assaulting Teammate in New Lawsuit". People.
  27. "Complaint and Demand for Jury Trial", Egbert vs. Griswold et al, US District Court of Colorado, November 11, 2022.
  28. Overend, Riley (November 11, 2022). "Lawsuit Filed Against Robert Griswold, Accused of Raping Paralympic Teammate". SwimSwam.
  29. Overend, Riley (November 14, 2022). "After Lawsuit Alleging "Cover-Up," USOPC Places 2 Staff Members on Administrative Leave". SwimSwam.
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