The DSV is looking for a way out of the ongoing crisis. The association, which has to pay hundreds of thousands of euros in damages due to allegations of abuse and labor disputes, wants to reorganize its leadership.
The DSV is looking for a way out of the ongoing crisis. The recently leaderless association, which has to pay hundreds of thousands of euros in damages due to allegations of abuse and labor law disputes, wants to reorganize its leadership. A three-person full-time board should take care of it. However, the shadows of the past are still an issue.
The state of emergency had recently become the rule in the German Swimming Association (DSV). Since the former diver Jan Hempel made allegations of abuse against his former coach public in an ARD documentary in the summer of 2022 and accused the DSV of inaction, the association has been steering from one crisis to the next.
At the general meeting in Kassel there should now be a jolt through the ranks. The draft of a new association statute was approved, which was approved by almost 75 percent of the delegates in Kassel in a secret vote. Most important content: The DSV wants to appoint a new board of directors next year. In the future, a full-time management trio will lead the association into a better future. The top three should be responsible for the areas of association management, competitive sports and sports development.
This means that the association can do justice to the multitude of tasks, explained Vice President Wolfgang Rupieper and stated: “Working on the board is a full-time job and there is no one doing voluntary work anymore.” In this way, the DSV is positioning itself for the future and making clear the value of full-time employment.
A foundation for the future
Rupieper and his counterpart, Vice President Kai Morgenroth, had submitted the proposal to adopt a new statute. They had already announced this when they were elected in November 2022. The relief that it has now worked is obviously great. The statutes were controversially discussed in the run-up to the meeting. “We are convinced that these statutes are a milestone in providing a basis for the future,” said Rupieper.
Only on Friday, Wolfgang Hein, President of the Lower Saxony Swimming Association, said in an interview with the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” that the draft of the new statutes did not go far enough for him.
Structural problems
The structural problems of the DSV have existed since reunification, said Lutz Thieme, sports scientist at Koblenz University, before the general meeting. The expert in sports club and association research has been involved in developing the new statutes since January 2021 as a member of the responsible commission in the DSV. “Times have changed, and so have the challenges. It has to be clear who has to say what and what has to be done. Otherwise you can’t solve any tasks,” emphasized Thieme in Kassel.
However, it will only become clear next year whether there will be a controversial increase in license fees for competitive swimmers. In Kassel, this initially failed due to resistance from the regional associations. Further consultations will take place in the new year. The budget for the coming year was therefore passed by the delegates without the license increase. The association’s liquidity is also ensured, as Morgenroth explained.
Rupieper counters critics
Another topic in Kassel was the out-of-court settlements with abuse victim Jan Hempel and the former competitive sports director Thomas Kurschilgen. A letter from the DSV’s anti-doping officer, Alexander Mesch, sent before the meeting caused discussion because Mesch had declared his resignation in it. The letter is available to the sports show.
Through the two comparisons, the two vice-presidents “intervened massively in the association’s financial situation” and the reserves were “misused,” writes Mesch. For him, financial compensation to Jan Hempel was “neither necessary from a legal point of view nor indicated on this scale out of moral compassion.”
The logo of the German Swimming Association.
Criticism of the agreement with Hempel also came up in the open discussion: Peter Obermark from the Schleswig-Holstein Swimming Association complained that a meeting of the general meeting would have had to be called for a decision of this magnitude. Rupieper responded with emotional words: “Then you sit up here and take responsibility in this time of crisis. I’ll also be happy if I don’t have to make these decisions anymore.”
DSV is seeking an agreement with Buschkow
The DSV is also seeking an out-of-court settlement in the dispute with the former national diving coach Lutz Buschkow. Buschkow, who was dismissed without notice in October 2022, had sued the labor court in Halle. No agreement was reached at the first conciliation hearing last summer.
Morgenroth reported that he wanted to “settle the damage” through a personal conversation with Buschkow and thus prevent the second court date with witness hearings in February. “Bushkov is concerned with public rehabilitation and in court the damage will be greater for everyone,” he added.
A conversation awaits Bernd Berkhahn
National coach Bernd Berkhahn will also be able to prepare for a conversation: The coach of the medal guarantors Leonie Beck and Florian Wellbrock had told the ARD morning magazine two weeks ago that the association had a “major leadership problem”. Berkhahn said that there was “no work being done structurally or perspectively” and that the preparation for the Olympic Games was not being carried out professionally. At the general meeting, competitive sports director Christian Hansmann expressed incomprehension about Berkhahn’s statements: “I expect the national coaches to contribute their expertise. Association political statements are the responsibility of me and the board.”
As Berkhahn’s direct superior, Hansmann also gave insight into the internal relationship between the competitive sports director and the most successful national coach: “My predecessor (editor’s note: Thomas Kurschilgen) had a good relationship with Berkhahn. It was difficult for me to take on this position, the conditions were and are not easy”. Hansmann emphasized that he would get “fire and kicks in the shins” that he would have to “deal with” and drew a parallel to 2021.
At this point, Berkhahn had criticized the then board around DSV President Marco Troll as a co-signatory of an open letter – a few months before the start of the Olympic Games in Tokyo: “The board was already supposed to be destabilized back then and that must be addressed now.” Together with Rupieper and Morgenroth, a conversation with Berkhahn is planned next weekend.