One of the strangest parts of the last week has been the bizarre "interviews" Mark Schubert has given in relation to initial look into what Sean Hutchison was doing in 2010. Schubert's apparent strategy is to double and triple down on his lies, hope that most of the media covering this story will take his lies at face value (they have), and position his back for gratuitous slaps at the next ASCA event.
One problem for Schubert in this process is that he actually testified under oath about the first time Hutchison slithered away. Robert Allard, as part of Dagny Knutson's suit against Richard Foster.
If you want to read the deposition for yourself, here it is. But if you're lazy and want me to read the parts where Mark Schubert contradicts himself, skip ahead:
Now, there's a lot in here that you may or may not find interesting. For the purposes of this blog, lets focus on the discussion of Hutchison and how it jibes with what Schubert is trying to tell us in interviews today.
First, on page 40, Schubert is asked what his relationship with Bill Jewell was. Here's the exchange. He answers that they were "friendly". He indicates that the way that he found out about Hutchison is that Bill Jewell informed him of a "rumor" and asked him for advice.
This is the exact opposite of what Schubert told Swimswam earlier this week. He said that he heard a rumor about Hutchison from a "coach back East" and then he was the one who confronted Jewell.
Then, Allard tries to press Schubert on some specific terms of his settlement agreement and is blocked by Schubert's lawyers. A good question is why we as membership of USA Swimming are continuing to tolerate that confidentiality agreement, especially with what we now know.
But i digress. As Allard presses on, Schubert reveals in his testimony that the private investigators that he says he recommended to Bill Jewell were in fact headed by a former boyfriend of Schubert's daughter, and that his wife also worked for the investigator.
Schubert says that after Jewell revealed what the investigators had learned, he had no further discussion with Jewell. Quite a contrast to what he represented to Swimswam, wherein he asserts that he was "angry" with Jewell for not pursuing further investigation of Hutchison and allowing him to resign.
Now, to give credit, this final lie has been widely reported. Schubert somehow expects that people will forget that he was so "angry' with Bill Jewell that he went on to hire him ultimately defend him, even though Jewell was also sanctioned by USA Swimming for his later conduct.
Schubert remains head coach of the Mission Viejo Nadadores. The club, which says it is run by the volunteer driven Mission Viejo foundation, appears to still be quite happy to have a coach who contradicts his sworn testimony. Go figure.