Last week, just before heading to a nice weekend on Lake George, I got a facebook message via the Chris DeSantis Coaching facebook page. It was from Mark Schubert.
So I decided to create a mailbag post to answer the burning question that Mark Schubert had for this blog. I waited in great suspense for the question. Finally, it came through:
Now, “are you kidding” Is a rather vague question, but I’m going to endeavor to answer it anyway. Readers of the blog know that I’ve written quite a bit about the man who Irv Muchnick described as the “Alpha Male Authoritarian” of American Swimming.
So lets go back to the beginning and review each and every instance, and whether or not I was kidding.
Ethics Should Matter for the Hall of Fame
In 2017 Mark Schubert was inducted into the ISCA Hall of Fame. I thought that was a shame, and I was very much not kidding about that. No doubt that Schubert has had his name attached to some high achieving swimmers, but if we want to change a culture that lets coaches off the hook for bad behavior when their athletes perform well we need to set that standard at the top
Kidding verdict: Not kidding.
The Vise Tightens on Mark Schubert
Picking up in the next year, Schubert became a central figure in the wake of Sean Hutchison finally being held to some minor account for his sexual abuse of Ariana Kukors Smith. Primarily, that Schubert had knowledge that Kukors was being abused and the authority to do something about it as the most powerful swim coach in America.
Several sources, including some close to Schubert, have indicated to me that he had suspicions about Hutchison but sought to use that knowledge to engineer a landing for himself at Hutchison’s pro swimming center in Southern California.
Kidding verdict: No laughing matter
Mark Schubert’s Lawyer Friend in Trouble
Mark Schubert’s lawyer friend, Richard Foster, who was also a power broker within USA Swimming, has had a pretty bad year. Although, probably not as bad as the many lives he has “impacted” through his work over the years.
Foster found himself disbarred, fired and generally disgraced. Good company to keep!
However, this is the first time I used a nickname for Mark Schubert that I cannot take credit for. I also can’t tell you who came up with it. Anyway, it’s Beelzebub. More on that later
Kidding verdict: Not guilty
You’re Allowed to Like Who You Like
This post was not really about Mark Schubert. However, it came on the heels of meeting some people who like, used to like or are considering liking Mark Schubert should it suit their personal interests.
I included this line:
“Having just attended to a conference with some people that like Mark Schubert, I say to each their own. Personally, I would constantly worry about snagging myself on one of his horns, but that’s me.”
At this point, I think I have to come clean. I don’t actually believe that Mark Schubert is one of the seven princes of hell. As far as I know, he cannot fly, nor does he even have demon wings that would suggest he was capable of flight.
Mark Schubert does not have horns, and I don’t want anyone to misunderstand that I actually think he is the chief lieutenant of Lucifer, the Emperor of Hell.
I’m not a religious person, but even if I was I couldn’t , in good faith, suggest to you as a reader that he is capable of true demonic possession. That would be absolutely ridiculous.
Kidding Verdict:
This has been a Mark Schubert Update.