New England Legend Joe Bernal Banned for Life By USA Swimming

Andrew,
I have been reading your comments and I have to speak up. What you are describing as to the behaviors of the Gator swimmers could describe the behaviors of any individual within any team, in any town, in any country and yet you have used this to draw a not so thinly veiled connection to somehow being correlated with fostering an environment that would also allow sexual abuse to occur.

Were we cocky? Absolutely. Did we love winning and have a swagger? You bet. Did we love the fact that every other team in NE hated us because we kicked their a$$ and there was nothing they could do about it? You better believe it. And did Coach promote this swagger and yes a bit of arrogance that got under every team we beat? Without a doubt. But, did all of New England also line up as Gator Haters and do what they could to try to tear us down? Yes they did. But, you know what? They still couldn’t touch us. I could frankly care less if you found it hard to feel part of this, but it was incredibly special for those of us who were. And, what you are describing as such horrific experiences are nowhere near the same thing as sexual abuse. While you make these lame caveat statements that you are “not the accuser”, you are effectively making accusations at the same time. What you have described has nothing to do with rape and sexual misconduct, so why are you using this as a forum to work out your past issues with the team? Perhaps you do need to work out those issue with a therapist, because it seems like to me that you have been waiting 30 years to vent and are now looking to pile on in a way that is completely unrelated to this case and you finally have your voice. Good for you. You now have your moment. So lame. You come off sounding like a kid who was not picked for a kickball team.

I’ll say the same thing I said before. Not a single person in this thread knows what happened unless someone here is the actual accuser. Stop using this as a forum to work out your own issues because we are talking about people’s lives here.

Read my comments. I’m not defending Bernal, I’m defending the team. I have said in all my comments that I don’t know what happened and that I out of respect for the alleged victims and without any public court hearing, out of respect for Bernal, I will withhold judgment. I am defending the team against your bashing it at the same time you are saying – “well other kids were that way as well” is like saying, “no offense, but you’re ugly” as if you can inoculate the statement with a caveat. I’m defending the entire Gator team for you trashing it, because you had a bad experience and suggesting you look in the mirror as to why you are trying to throw an entire team under the bus for that experience.

Mr. Saulnier, I can attest to you that between the years 2006 and 2014 when my children were on the team, the kids were very well behaved and would not have dared do anything to hurt someone else. I also chaperoned numerous travel trips and witnessed their behavior. As for Coach Bernal, I know that he was a tough coach. My son had his struggles with Coach as well. However, in this case, I know the accuser quite well and I know that she lied about some of the accusations specifically with events that myself, son and daughter would have witnessed if they happened. My son provided signed testimony to refute what she said. If Coach Bernal was guilty of inappropriate behavior towards his female swimmers over the years, it wasn’t with this particular swimmer. If he is sanctioned it should be for something he did do and not something that did not happen.

Ok Mr. Saulnier, I’m starting to wonder if you are actually reading the posts. I didn’t say he didn’t do anything bad nor did I say he was a my “hero”. Please don’t put words in my mouth. The reason I am using “just the facts” is that facts are what matters to me most. What I said regarding my son and daughter was that she lied about events relating to us and SHE brought us into it. What she told USA Swimming was not true. Regardless of what I think or not think about Coach Bernal, I will not be party to a lie. Also, I didn’t say that Coach Bernal was perfect or never did anything wrong. I could go into detail the experience my son had with him but it is his personal story and is up to him to divulge if he wants. He was on the verge of quitting multiple times but he chose to stay. That was his choice. As for Coach Bernal’s life time ban, if you read again what I said, I said he may have behaved inappropriately with female swimmers in the past as some have suggested, however he did not behave inappropriately with THIS swimmer. If he did not behave inappropriately with her then she should not be the reason he is banned. Let other people who feel wronged by him come forward if they are out there who can tell the truth and provide corroborating evidence. If he is to be banned, it should be because someone came forward who is actually telling the truth.