In the dispute over compensation for pain and suffering in the millions due to years of abuse by his trainer, former water jumper Jan Hempel has given the German Swimming Association (DSV) a deadline, according to his manager Oliver Hillebrecht.
He submitted five different offers, Hillebrecht told the German Press Agency on Wednesday. If the DSV does not respond with a serious answer by June 6th, it will go to court. Among other things, it is also about whether Hempel could be used as a swimming coach. The DSV did not want to comment on the dpa request. “The lawyers involved have agreed on confidentiality in this matter. The association will adhere to that,” it was said.
In August of last year, former world-class water jumper Hempel made public allegations of sexual abuse against his long-time coach Werner Langer, who died in 2001, in an ARD documentary entitled “Abused – Sexualized Violence in German Swimming”. Accordingly, Langer had passed from 1982 to 1996 at the Olympic silver medalist in Atlanta in 1996. In the film, Hempel accused the DSV of knowing about the allegations in 1997 but not having done anything decisive.
The case triggered a broad discussion about abuse and violence in German sport and how to deal with it.