Holyoke swim coach accused of rape will not be banned from sport

It was in November when CBS 3 first told you Anna Strzempko’s story of alleged rape.

“I remember once Anna told me it was like cocaine, she would do anything for his approval,” her mother Monica Strzempko told CBS 3 in November.

They were words from a mother desperate to get her daughter’s alleged story of rape into the public eye after years of what she described as being ostracized from a swimming organization her daughter once loved so much.

On the other side, there’s 61-year-old Randy Smith – a former swim coach at the Holyoke YMCA for three decades who denies any allegations of sexual misconduct.

According to Anna Strzempko’s mother, in 2011 when Anna was 16 and dramatically losing weight and isolating herself, she came forward with allegations of rape against Smith saying that between between 2008 and 2010 she had been sexually abused by him anywhere from six to 10 times.

Reports would be filed over the next three years with the Department of Children and Families, USA Swimming and Holyoke police, but charges were never brought forth.

Finally, on Nov.17, 2014, years after the initial accusations, Smith and Anna Strzempko’s testimony unfolded before an independent national review board, charged with finding out whether there was enough evidence to ban Smith from the sport.

CBS 3 obtained the board’s official findings.

In a 2-1 vote released this week, the panel members found they did not have enough to bar Smith from coaching in the sport.

CBS3 Springfield

CBS 3 Springfield – WSHM