Ger Doyle (died 29 May 2020) was an Irish former national swimming coach from

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

County Wexford County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...

. Doyle was coach of the Irish Olympic team at the

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

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games. He managed

New Ross New Ross (, formerly ) is a town in southwest County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, on the River Barrow on the border with County Kilkenny, northeast of Waterford. In 2022, it had a population of 8,610, making it the fourth-largest t ...

swimming pool for more than two decades. In 2010 he was jailed for six and a half years after being found guilty in court of 34 counts of

indecent assault Indecent assault is an offence of aggravated assault in some common law-based jurisdictions. It is characterised as a sex crime and has significant overlap with offences referred to as sexual assault. England and Wales Indecent assault was a broa ...

and one count of

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...

against underage boys in his care.

Coaching

Doyle managed

swimming pool for 26 years, taking over the role when he was aged 19 in 1980. He became

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

's swimming coach in 1984 and national swimming coach in 1992 where he remained until 2005. He coached at least one Olympic swimmer. His swimmers broke more than one hundred national records at junior and senior level. He was coach of the Irish Olympic team at the

and

games, though was not well enough to travel to the former. He was Wexford Person of the Year 2004.

Child abuse

In 2005 reports of misconduct began to emerge. Doyle's trial lasted for six days. In 2010, Doyle was convicted of 35 counts of indecent and sexual assault on five children aged between ten and fifteen over a period of twelve years between 1981 and 1993. He received a -year prison sentence. The judge described "a complete absence of insight or remorse". There was applause in court as Doyle was led away and survivors of other swimming abuses welcomed the sentence. One incident described Doyle as having removed a boy's trousers to smack his bottom and touch him. Another child suffered from bouts of anger and another had regular panic attacks. The abuse took place in his office in New Ross. Only one of the five was in court for Doyle's sentencing. Doyle maintained his innocence. He was the second Olympic swimming coach convicted of such crimes in Ireland, following Derry O'Rourke. George Gibney was charged but not

convicted In law, a conviction is the determination by a court of law that a defendant is guilty of a crime. A conviction may follow a guilty plea that is accepted by the court, a jury trial in which a verdict of guilty is delivered, or a trial by jud ...

. ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' criticised the sport as a whole for inadequately protecting children, noting that Doyle was allowed to share a hotel room with an 18-year-old male swimmer in 2002 during the British Youth Championships in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, even though the rules did not permit

Michelle Smith Michelle Smith de Bruin (born 16 December 1969) is an Irish lawyer and retired Olympic swimmer. She won three gold medals at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, for the 400 m individual medley, 400 m freestyle and 200 m indiv ...

to share a room with her fiancé and future husband

Erik de Bruin Erik de Bruin (born 25 May 1963 in Hardinxveld-Giessendam, South Holland) is a retired Dutch discus thrower and shot putter. He held the Dutch national record in shot put from 1986 to 2005, and his 68.12 m discus throw record of 1 April 1991 sti ...

. Doyle attended a child welfare course operated by the

Irish Sports Council Sport Ireland (), formerly the Irish Sports Council, is a statutory authority that oversees, and partly funds, the development of sport within Ireland. It is located at the National Sports Campus in the townland of Sheephill near Abbotstown Hou ...

in 2004, at which time no criticisms were raised.

Personal life

Both Doyle's parents are dead. He resided with his sister in Wexford prior to being convicted of sexual assault. He did not have a criminal record prior to this.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doyle, Ger Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Irish people convicted of child sexual abuse Irish people convicted of indecent assault Sportspeople from County Wexford Swimming coaches Violence against men in Europe