A lawsuit has been filed against U.S. Paralympic swimmer Robert Griswold, accusing him of sexually abusing a younger Paralympic teammate.
Robert Griswold : Sexual abuse | Disability | charges
Griswold began swimming at the age of 6 at the Ocean County YMCA. He competed for his high school swimming team and team captain and MVP.
Outside of athletics, he earned his Eagle Scout rank and organized a Paralympic Swimming Clinic to educate the community about disabilities and expose individuals to some of the available opportunities.
He graduated from Freehold Township High School in 2015. Griswold is from Freehold Borough, New Jersey.
Griswold has competed for two NCAA Division II schools, Carson-Newman University and Fresno Pacific University during his NCAA swimming career that began fall 2015.
He graduated from Indiana State University with a bachelor’s degree in communications.
Robert Griswold sexual abuse
A lawsuit has been filed against U.S. Paralympic swimmer Robert Griswold, accusing him of sexually abusing a younger Paralympic teammate.
The suit was filed on Friday in Colorado and alleges Griswold “maliciously targeted” an intellectually disabled teammate, according to a CNN story and other reports.
“This case is a horrific tragedy, where a young man who defied all odds to become a world-class Paralympic swimmer had his life utterly shattered by rape and abuse when he was paired with a team member who was a violent sexual predator,” the lawsuit states.
According to the Denver Gazette, the lawsuit also alleged that the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the United States Center for SafeSport covered up the abuse.
Griswold, a Paralympic champion, was suspended temporarily by the U.S. Center for SafeSport in August because of “allegations of misconduct” and placed on the SafeSport database.
According to the suit, Griswold allegedly abused now-19-year-old Parker Egbert, who has suffered from developmental delay and intellectual disability his entire life making him “significantly more vulnerable to abuse,” during the Tokyo Paralympic Games and at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center (OPTC) located in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Para Olympics
Griswold competed at his first international meet in 2014 and quickly rose to prominence within the S8 classification initially gaining success in the distance freestyle events, winning his first world championships bronze in 2015.
He followed up his World Championships medals by qualifying for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and winning a bronze medal in the 100 m back. 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.
At the 2017 World Championships he was the most decorated American male with two gold medals and two silver medals and was honored by being chosen as the flagbearer at the opening ceremonies.
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 200m individual medley and fifth in the 400m freestyle.
On April 14, 2022, Griswold was named to the roster to represent the United States at the 2022 World Para Swimming Championships.
Then at the 2022 World Championships, Griswold claimed his third consecutive title in the 100m backstroke S8.
He also claimed world titles in the 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley. Also Griswold won silver medals in the 100m freestyle and the 4×100 freestyle relay 34pts and a bronze medal in the 400m freestyle.