“Joy Amidst the Waves: The Unforgettable Legacy of Suspended Artistic Swimming Coach Hiea-Yoon Kang”

Just prior to the U.S. Championships in the early spring of 2017, U.S. artistic swimming national team and La Mirada Aquabelles coach Hiea-Yoon Kang noticed a group of competitors she was training performing the splits on the poolside as part of their warm-up routines.

“Hiea-Yoon was not pleased with my toe point and my extension,” a swimmer recalled, reflecting on the exercise during a previously undisclosed discussion with a U.S. Center for SafeSport investigator, “so she stood on my foot and I felt it pop.”

The discomfort the athlete experienced was apparent to Kang, the swimmer stated during the interrogation.

“I indicated to her that it hurt and clearly you could observe the pain on my face but it was very much a rule that we weren’t allowed to cry or express anything at practice,” the swimmer conveyed to the U.S. Center for SafeSport investigator. “So there was significant anxiety built up around expressing discomfort or just how we felt; anyone that was in tears would be singled out. And I never, ever cried at practice; that was simply not something I did. But of course, when someone stands on your toe and it pops, it was intensely agonizing, so I began to weep.

“And I remember my teammate, who was right beside me, and I was essentially clutching her arm and I was just wailing. And Hiea-Yoon observed that I was crying and she verbally belittled me, calling me a baby and criticizing me for crying.”

The athlete’s narration of the occurrence is part of a confidential update from the U.S. Center for SafeSport investigation, which is among a series of documents reviewed or acquired by the Orange County Register. In these documents, former U.S. national team members and La Mirada Aquabelles parents describe numerous incidents where Kang allegedly caused physical harm to athletes and then mocked them, at times even laughing at them, as they endured pain and sobbed. Kang also threatened, belittled, and body-shamed competitors, while pressuring them to compete or train despite being severely injured, according to claims made in the SafeSport documents.

“I couldn’t point my foot anymore because of the agony,” the swimmer continued in her conversation with the SafeSport investigator, adding that while she attempted to move her foot, Kang reprimanded her for weeping.

“And then she stood on it again and it popped two more times, and then I was crying even more intensely,” the swimmer recounted. In the meantime, Kang persisted in admonishing her for crying.

The confidential 572-page SafeSport investigation update from December 3 affirms and elaborates on a nearly 9,000-word Register special report published in May, where former U.S. national team members, La Mirada Aquabelles athletes, and their parents described in interviews with the newspaper and in complaints to the U.S. Center for SafeSport obtained by the Register that Kang, over the span of more than a decade, has habitually inflicted physical, verbal, and emotional abuse upon athletes as young as nine, many of whom have traveled hours each day or relocated from other states or regions to join a program that has evolved into a pipeline to the U.S. Olympic and national teams.

Kang is “someone who derives considerable pleasure from just making us scream,” an Aquabelles swimmer disclosed to a SafeSport investigator.

USA Artistic Swimming was informed of allegations

The SafeSport investigation update along with other previously undisclosed SafeSport and arbitration documents acquired by the Register in recent weeks reveals that officials and coaches at USA Artistic Swimming, the sport’s national governing entity, consistently prioritized the organization’s image and Olympic achievements over the safety of athletes. USAAS continued to recruit and elevate Kang to significant roles on the U.S. Olympic and national team staffs for more than a year after USAAS was first made aware of allegations regarding physical, verbal, and emotional abuse against Kang. USAAS only suspended her in May after being alerted to an imminent Register report, the potential of which triggered worries within the NGB that Kang would be associated with the group and “attract problematic scrutiny to the organization,” as stated in documents related to Kang’s arbitration under U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee regulations last July, wherein she sought reinstatement to the U.S. Olympic team coaching staff.

USAAS CEO Adam Andrasko testified at an arbitration hearing that “adding Coach Kang to the Olympic team, with the serious allegations unresolved, would have detrimental repercussions on the team’s focus, was impractical regarding the limited staff resources available to assign a chaperone, and posed risks of potential loss of sponsorships and philanthropic support. He added that the culture of the sport must be right,” as outlined in arbitration documents.

The SafeSport documents and interviews with athletes and parents also raise concerns about the Center’s management of the Kang case. Athletes and parents claim in discussions with the Register that SafeSport officials failed to address their inquiries and worries promptly, if they responded at all. The Center did not inform Kang of the allegations against her until nearly 17 months after SafeSport commenced its investigation. During that interval, Kang continued to inflict physical, emotional, and verbal abuse on young athletes, swimmers and parents allege in SafeSport documents and interviews.

“How exceptionally harsh this sport is,” Miranda Marquez, a former Aquabelles swimmer remarked in a recent discussion with the Register. “If (the U.S. Center for SafeSport and USAAS) genuinely mean what they say about protecting athletes, then Coach Kang should never coach again.

“If she is permitted to coach, then their statements hold no weight. Their words are meaningless.”

The SafeSport update also encompasses Kang’s only known remarks regarding the allegations against her.

“I would describe myself as tough and strict, but in a way that is … I encourage athletes to reach their full potential,” Kang told SafeSport investigator Jason Krasley during a September 23 interview, according to a transcript of the interaction.

The U.S. Center for SafeSport terminated Krasley in November after discovering he had been arrested for stealing money confiscated after a drug bust while employed by the Allentown, Pennsylvania, police department in 2021. The case remains unresolved, according to published reports.

“I don’t recall”

Kang, 42, denied labeling athletes as stupid or lazy and claimed she did not shout at or ridicule injured competitors. However, during her interrogation, Kang responded to at least 17 inquiries about specific incidents by stating “I don’t recall” or that she couldn’t remember.

At one point during the inquiry, Krasley asked Kang if she ever mocked swimmers while they jogged on the streets near the La Mirada pool as part of their training?

“I don’t remember,” she replied.

Did Kang ever drive up to jogging swimmers and tell them, “You had a Jamba Juice and they were running?” Krasley inquired.

“I don’t recall,” Kang answered once more.

Kang declined to comment when approached by a Register reporter after a practice earlier this month.

However, former U.S. national team and Aquabelles athletes and their parents allege in interviews with SafeSport investigators included in the center’s injury update that competitors trained and competed

and existed in nearly perpetual anxiety of Kang physically, verbally or emotionally mistreating them, threatening to expel them from practices or competition routines while having their eating habits monitored and condemned.

Among the claims noted in the SafeSport documents:

• Three swimmers assert that Kang caused them physical harm during stretching exercises and then ridiculed them, as outlined in SafeSport interview transcripts.

“I believe she took pleasure in it when it caused you pain,” a former swimmer remarked to SafeSport.

• Swimmers expressed that they frequently felt “intimidated” by Kang and observed the coach mistreating other athletes consistently.

• Kang purportedly regularly fat-shamed swimmers, disparaged athletes’ nutrition and eating practices, and compelled them to monitor and report to her what they consumed, according to the SafeSport interview transcripts.

Kang referred to one group of Aquabelles swimmers as “the Teletubbies Club.”

“Essentially hinting that we needed to shed pounds,” a former Aquabelles swimmer shared regarding Kang’s usage of the nickname.

• Even though USA Artistic Swimming received accusations of “psychological and emotional mistreatment” by Kang on October 24, 2022, the NGB persisted in assigning her roles within U.S. Olympic and national team coaching at prestigious international events such as the Olympic Games and World Championships, only suspending her on May 9 after learning about the impending Register special report, as per documents related to Kang’s arbitration.

“USAAS concurs that the suspension resulted directly from USAAS becoming aware of an article scheduled for publication later in the OC Register,” stated the arbitration panel’s final verdict.

• The documents further outline Kang’s fixation on maintaining the Aquabelles’ current training location, Fullerton College, confidential after the City of La Mirada officials suspended her from coaching at the team’s longstanding training venue, Splash! La Mirada Regional Aquatics Center, in June, one month post the Register special report publication.

“The children, the athletes, were also advised by parents and the coach to refrain from disclosing the pool’s location,” a parent of an Aquabelles and U.S. national team member informed a U.S. Center for SafeSport investigator in October. “Honestly, we worry that if our location becomes public, that pool might receive inquiries regarding the coach coaching there and being informed of an investigation into those allegations of misconduct and mistreatment, leaving us without a pool again. Hence, that’s our, the parents’ concern about revealing where we practice.”

Notwithstanding allegations, coach received significant roles

The identities of athletes interviewed by SafeSport were redacted by the Center in the investigation update. At least six former and current U.S. national team and Aquabelles swimmers have submitted written complaints against Kang to SafeSport but are currently refraining from cooperating with the center’s inquiry due to fears of retaliation from Kang and/or her supporters within USAAS, according to four individuals privy to the investigation.

After Andrasko received the complaint against Kang alleging “psychological and emotional misconduct and mistreatment” in October 2022, the NGB forwarded the complaint to the U.S. Center for SafeSport, which subsequently took over the case, per SafeSport and USAAS documents.

Nine months later, in July 2023, Kang was appointed as U.S. senior national team assistant coach, signing a contract that extended from that July to October 2023, according to SafeSport records. On March 15, 2024, USAAS renewed Kang’s contract for a period from February through August 2024.

By that juncture, USAAS had already included Kang and another coach in the U.S. Olympic Games and World Championship coaching personnel, asserting that the coaches would have a “positive influence” on Team USA’s culture.

“The two coaches will contribute their strong skill sets to enhance the capabilities of the nation’s finest athletes in their quest for Olympic success,” USAAS stated in a January 24 press release. “These roles will additionally reinforce our commitment to nurturing a healthy mindset that promotes the development of the best all-around athlete. The objective is to assist each athlete in becoming the most well-rounded individual both within and outside of the sport.”

Kang later testified that she had been designated to primarily work with the U.S. duet team, as per arbitration documents.

Andrasko testified that USAAS submitted Kang’s name on May 1 as part of a “short list” of USAAS Olympic Games staff sent to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, which determined who would receive accreditation for the Paris Olympics later that summer, according to arbitration records.

Kang coached Team USA at the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup in Paris from May 3-5, returning to the U.S. on May 6. She was set to start working with the U.S. duet at the team’s initial practice on May 9.

Instead, Kang was indefinitely suspended by USAAS that day.

Upon her return from Paris, Kang informed Andrasko about a May 2 email she had received from a Register journalist. The email contained over 40 inquiries directed at Kang concerning more than 70 abuse allegations against her from swimmers and their parents. Kang did not reply to the reporter’s email or numerous other requests for comments via email, phone messages and texts throughout several weeks last spring.

“Coach Kang immediately informed and sought advice from Mr. Andrasko, who expressed concern regarding the possibility that ‘(i)f this article were to be published, the allegations, the Coach’s name and club could associate the Coach with USAAS’ and subsequently bring unwelcome attention to the organization,” according to arbitration documents.

On May 8, Andrasko sent an email to the U.S. Center for SafeSport with the subject line “Seeking Guidance.”

“I need you to please direct me to the appropriate department or individual for this kind of advisement,” Andrasko wrote in the email. “The Center has jurisdiction over a case. The individual involved in that case is a contract employee of mine. I wish to discuss what actions I can and cannot undertake.”

The following day, Jocelyn Shafer, SafeSport’s director of intake and resolution, replied to Andrasko. The details of Shafer’s email are redacted in arbitration documents but Andrasko informed the Register in May that he had been made aware by SafeSport of further allegations against Kang “that were significantly more disturbing” than the initial complaints from October 22. Later that same day, May 9, Andrasko informed Kang by letter that USAAS was “indefinitely suspending” her contract.

“USAAS has received allegations of concerning behavior that occurred outside of the national team atmosphere,” Andrasko wrote to Kang. “These allegations are serious enough that at this time the organization believes an indefinite suspension is warranted. This will remain effective until the conclusion of the Center for SafeSport’s interview and determination process is finalized. Upon completion, USAAS will revisit the contractor/organization relationship.”

In a subsequent ruling denying Kang’s request for reinstatement to the Olympic team staff, a USAAS hearing panel stated that “given the high-profile media attention regarding abuse allegations that were under ongoing investigation, USAAS had justifiable grounds to believe that Ms. Kang’s continued service with the Senior National Team Coaching Staff could raise concerns. … Extensive media focus on abuse allegations directed at a coach in an Olympic year could potentially compromise the psychological safety of the Olympic team.”

It wasn’t until six weeks post-suspension that Kang received her initial communication from SafeSport affirming the allegations against her. SafeSport’s “Confidential Notice of Allegations” againstKang announced on June 18 outlines “accusations of emotional and physical maltreatment ‘that may contravene the SafeSport Code.’”

Kang then aimed to challenge the USAAS hearing panel’s decision and sought reinstatement to the Olympic team coaching roster through arbitration based on USOPC regulations. In a ruling dated July 24, New Era ADR, an arbitration panel appointed by the USOPC, rejected Kang’s plea. During the proceedings, Andrasko contested Kang’s claim that she “had multiple discussions with the Head Coach (Andrea Fuentes) expressing her desire to return and assist the team with her technical know-how.”

Nevertheless, Kang still enjoys backing from certain individuals within USAAS.

Olympic champion Tammy McGregor, who was appointed U.S. national team head coach in October, recounted in a conversation on October 17 with SafeSport investigator Krasley that she first learned of Kang around 2010 or 2011.

“It was quite evident that she was developing outstanding athletes with exceptional technical abilities,” McGregor remarked.

Kang obtained her initial Team USA position in 2011 when she was designated U.S. junior national team coach. She led the U.S. at the 2013 and 2014 Junior World Championships.

“She’s tough, and I hate to generalize, but an Asian coach would typically not be one to compromise,” McGregor stated in the SafeSport discussion about Kang. “It’s simply a matter of right or wrong. It’s either good or it’s not.”

“Very frightening”

However, former U.S. national team members and Aquabelles swimmers, as revealed in previously undisclosed interviews with SafeSport investigators, assert that Kang’s coaching techniques were not only demanding but frequently physically, emotionally, and verbally hostile.

“Coach Kang was very frightening,” an Aquabelles swimmer disclosed to SafeSport.

“She consistently played little psychological games with you,” another Aquabelles swimmer expressed in a SafeSport conversation. “I feel like she just never cared about the swimmers. She was solely focused on the outcomes.”

Even within artistic swimming, a discipline with a well-documented pattern of abusive coaches, Kang’s physical aggression, intimidation, and fixation on weight and diets were particularly noticeable, swimmers informed SafeSport investigators.

An Aquabelles swimmer was questioned by a SafeSport investigator regarding the most significant differences between Kang and other coaches.

“I suppose her temper,” the swimmer replied. “It’s very simple to set her off. If we ask too many queries, she would become upset. She treats us as if we’re unintelligent, like, ‘Why don’t you understand?’ Why are you posing questions and then she gets angry.

“I guess that or just the sheer absurdity of her (training) sets. Because again, we do endure a lot of hard sets and everything, which I’m quite accustomed to, but hers are simply utterly impossible.”

A previous Aquabelles swimmer verified to a SafeSport investigator what she referred to as the “notorious birthday workout.”

During a 2011 Aquabelles practice, Kang declared it was her 29th birthday and to celebrate the event, the swimmers were to swim 50 yards in 29 seconds 29 times, Marquez informed the Register earlier this year.

“One way would be butterfly and the return lap would be underwater,” Marquez explained. “No breathing.”

“We had to restart the 29 (sprints) if we took a breath,” Marquez continued in the interview with the Register. “Coach Kang told us that blacking out was no excuse to stop the drills and that we must complete them before she would permit any medical intervention. She even noted that she didn’t want us passing out and complicating matters for everyone else by making our teammates come to our rescue and make us all begin again.”

In a December 5, 2023 interview with SafeSport, five months before the Register report was released, another Aquabelles swimmer explained the birthday workout.

“We’re going to do 29 times for my 29th birthday,” the swimmer told SafeSport. “It was like, ‘What?’

“So basically you go there and back and you’re allowed one breath, and we did it 29 times.”

Kang was questioned about the workout during her interview.

“Honestly, I can’t recall many details from that day, from that practice,” Kang told Krasley. “It was years ago. But yes, there was a time on my birthday when, whether I was 29, or 28, we did 29 sets of whatever it was. If you were to inquire what the set was, I wouldn’t be able to say.”

The investigator informed her that swimmers claimed the workout was 29 50s in 29 seconds.

“No,” Kang replied. “That’s impossible to achieve.”

However, Marquez and another swimmer confirmed to SafeSport that this was indeed the workout Kang insisted they perform on her 29th birthday.

Amid workouts, tears, vomiting, insults

Marquez detailed in a prior interview with the Register and while speaking with a SafeSport investigator had very vivid memories of the workout. Just days before, Marquez, then 16, had been rushed to a nearby emergency room to address a kidney stone. The kidney stone remained lodged, causing infection and leaving her in excruciating pain.

“Before practice, I had informed (Kang) that my kidney was hurting terribly and that I had been vomiting from the pain. She essentially said, ‘That’s unfortunate, but you’re here so you’re going to follow my instructions,’” Marquez recounted to the Register. “Once again, I prioritized my commitment over my health and I was merely 16. I had no idea what to say or do. So I began the drills with everyone else.”

By the 19th 50, after more than a half-mile of swimming, and a quarter-mile underwater without breathing, Marquez realized she could no longer continue.

“Those are both hypoxic exercises, so the agony in my back and kidney was becoming unbearable,” she stated. “Because I realized I was peeing blood and I knew I was about to vomit, I rushed to the bathroom.”

Marquez notified Kang of her condition and as she hurried to the bathroom, she heard the coach shout behind her, “We’ll wait until you’re back in the pool, but everyone has to restart because of you.”

Kang followed Marquez into the bathroom where she found the swimmer “collapsed on the bathroom floor, vomiting and crying,” Marquez reported.

Marquez pleaded with Kang to contact her parents so they could take her to the emergency room.

“She acted as if I hadn’t said anything and instead stated, ‘You know everyone has to start over because of you now, right?’”

Marquez recounted in the Register interview, echoing an account she made in a written complaint to the U.S. Center for Safe Sport. “I was too shocked and in too much pain to reply.”

Marquez, in her interview with a SafeSport investigator, mentioned that she had informed Kang about the pain she was experiencing due to the kidney stone.

“And she told me, straight up to my face, ‘I don’t care,’” Marquez stated according to her SafeSport interview transcript.

Kang also mentioned to Marquez, “You’ve spoiled my 29th birthday celebration,” Marquez conveyed to the investigator.

Subsequent examinations revealed that Marquez’s kidney was double the size of a normal kidney and a stent was required to drain the infections. She later underwent surgery.

In her SafeSport interview, Kang was asked if she told the swimmers they would be refused medical treatment if they passed out.

“Absolutely not,” Kang responded. “I don’t believe I ever said that they would not receive any medical assistance.”

Did she see Marquez exit the pool in distress?

“I don’t recall,” Kang replied.

Did she tell Marquez that she didn’t care?

“No,” Kang stated. “I would never use those words with an athlete.”

Did she remember Marquez vomiting?

“I don’t remember,” she stated.

Marquez also alleged in her SafeSport interview that Kang harmed the swimmer and other athletes by grabbing and twisting their feet during a toe-point stretching drill.

Kang told the swimmers, “I’m not going to let go of your guys’ feet until each one of you screams,” Marquez said in her SafeSport interview.

Marquez mentionedshe informed Kang that no one had caused her feet pain in a toe-point stretch due to her exceptionally flexible feet.

During the exercise, Kang pulled on one of Marquez’s large toes, resulting in a dislocation, Marquez reported.

“I yelled,” she recounted to SafeSport.

“Now they’ll hurt,” Marquez remembered Kang telling her.

“The consequences of that incident involving Coach Kang were extremely distressing, physically distressing because she would simply drill us into the ground, like torment us with exercises,” Marquez stated during her SafeSport interview.

Kang was questioned by SafeSport regarding whether she stood or seated herself on athletes or manipulated swimmers’ legs or feet during stretching routines.

“I assist all athletes with stretching,” Kang responded.

“So, it’s quite usual in our sport to provide assistance and help the athlete with their stretching,” Kang later mentioned in her SafeSport interview. “… Thus, if I needed to help athletes achieve a little extra stretch, yes, I did.

“I would assert that for all athletes, naturally, you are going to feel sore, yes.”

Another past Aquabelles swimmer described to SafeSport how Kang during a 2020 training session kept applying pressure on the athlete’s injured knee despite the swimmer clearly expressing pain and requesting her to stop.

“Can you cease, can you cease, can you cease,” the swimmer remembered telling Kang. “And she just laughed.”

The injury made it challenging for the swimmer to walk, she conveyed to SafeSport.

Kang “advised me to take painkillers and merely ice my knee, saying I’d be fine,” the swimmer shared.

Kang was questioned during her SafeSport interview if she suggested athletes use painkillers.

“I don’t recall,” she stated. “I don’t remember.”

Did she remember an athlete being in agony and requesting her to stop?

“I don’t recall,” Kang replied.

The swimmer also recalled Kang often scolding “a lot” at another swimmer with a history of concussions because she needed to take frequent hydration breaks for medical reasons.

Kang regularly threatened to expel swimmers from the team, swimmers and parents revealed to SafeSport.

“If you don’t do this right now, then I’ll kick you off the team,” an athlete informed SafeSport investigator Esther Johnson.

“It’s not shouting, but I do elevate my voice to ensure the athletes can hear me, but it’s not screaming or yelling,” Kang stated. “It’s more about raising my voice to make sure I’m heard.”

Monitoring weight and eating habits

Kang also made her feelings regarding swimmers’ weight and dietary habits clear, athletes communicated to SafeSport investigators.

“We all consumed these fig bars during practice,” a swimmer shared with SafeSport. “Hiea-Yoon told me to stop eating them because they made me overweight.

“I thought we were past the era of telling someone to avoid certain foods, but I guess not.”

McGregor was queried during her SafeSport interview if “body image, body definition” held significance in artistic swimming.

“Yes,” McGregor replied. “I mean it’s not about racing against the clock, right? When you step onto that deck, the judges are already making assessments of your training and fitness levels. Is this an aesthetic sport? Regardless of what anyone might say, oh, maybe it shouldn’t matter, it undoubtedly matters.

“But it’s integral to the sport. I mean, when you consult with sports scientists, they’ll advise you to train rigorously. The gymnastics expert told me to train them thoroughly before that muscle-to-body weight ratio changes. And I believe that was excellent advice because when you are smaller, your prepubescent self, it’s easier to build strength since your body weight is significantly less, much quicker. And when that happens, it becomes more difficult.

“There’s definitely a stigma that accompanies the club she coaches,” McGregor continued, referring to Kang. “That they’re all tanned and slender. So, is that due to her selecting the right individuals, like in China? Or is it a cultural aspect? Is it because they’re Asian and Asians generally do not eat like Americans?

“I can’t say.”

Swimmers recounted to SafeSport how Kang made a series of disparaging or sharp remarks regarding athletes’ weights or dietary choices.

“You’re large.”

“You’re overweight.”

“That’s a complete buffet.”

“Are you going to consume all that in thirty minutes?”

“Didn’t you just have a meal?”

While one former Aquabelles swimmer mentioned to the center, “I didn’t feel pressured not to eat things,” others felt Kang was perpetually scrutinizing their food intake.

“The fact that you’re seated on the ground and having someone loom over you, peering at what you’re (eating), just felt really, I don’t know, it felt very much like a prison guard vibe, just demeaning and slightly frightening,” a former Aquabelles swimmer disclosed to SafeSport.

At one moment, the swimmer stated, Kang required a collection of athletes to track their food consumption.

“She had us bring notebooks (to practice),” the swimmer stated in her SafeSport interview. “We made detailed notes about ‘Oh, we shouldn’t consume this type of bar and we shouldn’t eat this.’ There was an abundance of discussion about what not to consume and not necessarily about how to adequately nourish our bodies and properly care for ourselves similarly.

“It seemed like we were almost pitted against one another because fundamentally, she established a group chat where we were asked to send images of everything we consumed throughout the day. So I would be at school having my lunch and sending her a photo of my cucumbers or whatever I was eating.

“I was searching for how many calories were in three mini-cucumbers.”

Kang refuted having swimmers maintain notebooks detailing their food consumption.

“I had never required them to record items that should not be eaten,” she stated.