Gabor Szauder on personal leave
Ottawa, March 23, 2021 – Canada Artistic Swimming announced today that National Team Head Coach Gabor Szauder is taking a personal leave from his coaching duties in the full-time training environment in Montreal pending the outcome of the discipline panel hearing. On Monday, CAS and Mr. Szauder mutually agreed that the situation had become too difficult to manage for the team and for him.
Mr. Szauder was the subject of an external, independent, third party investigation, which was conducted between October 2020 and January 2021. He was removed from coaching duties during that time pending the outcome of the investigation.
The extensive investigation determined that there was not sufficient evidence to conclude there is an unsafe training environment in the senior national team program. The investigation also confirmed that given the importance of Olympic preparation and the training time already missed as a result of COVID and the investigation, it was at the discretion of CAS and their advisors to determine when to reconvene the training environment including Mr. Szauder.
Mr. Szauder does not intend to give any interviews given his strict obligation to maintain confidentiality related to the discipline hearing. CAS’ next media availability will be next week to allow the organization to address several key priorities in the meantime.
Mr. Szauder has been coaching the team at INS in Montreal since January, 2019. He maintains that the safety, well-being, and excellence of the athletes have and will always be his priorities.
About Canada Artistic Swimming
Canada Artistic Swimming is an organization that fosters the pursuit of excellence while developing athletes, citizens, and ambassadors of the sport of artistic swimming at all levels. From its 1924 beginnings in Montréal, artistic swimming has been actively pursued by more than 70 countries worldwide. Canada proudly ranks among the best of these nations.
For further information, visit Canada Artistic Swimming’s Website at www.artisticswimming.ca or follow Canada Artistic Swimming on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
For information:François Hamelin
Communication Advisor
info@artisticswimming.ca
514.260.4011