Swimmers allege abuse, academy coach suspended

A swimming coach engaged with a training centre in Odisha's Bhubaneswar was suspended over complaints of physical and verbal abuse of trainee athletes, officials said, adding a departmental inquiry has been initiated against him.

- Debabrata Mohanty

BHUBANESWAR:

Sandeep Sejwal, 35, who represented India in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and won a bronze medal in the 2014 Asian Games, was suspended by the state sports department after trainee athletes at Odisha JSW High Performance Swimming Centre alleged they were subjected to physical and verbal abuse by the coach for several months.

Sejwal was suspended after around 50 athletes staged a protest, boycotting dinner on Saturday night to mount pressure on the authorities to take action against him. "We will conduct a thorough probe into the matter and ensure justice is meted out to the young swimmers," director of sports promotion Deepankar Mohapatra said.