Dhe former water jumper Jan Hempel wants to sue the German Swimming Association (DSV) for damages and damages in the millions. This is reported by the sports show on Sunday. The 51-year-old Hempel had accused his late coach of years of sexual abuse in an ARD documentary. The lawsuit is said to be about 1,200 cases.
“The organization of the German Swimming Association failed completely in monitoring and controlling its coaches,” said Hempel’s lawyer Thomas Summerer in an interview with Sportschau: “There was only a cover-up. This organizational fault means that an association is liable.”
Hempel himself did not want to comment on the planned lawsuit, which, according to information from the sports show, is to be filed at the district court in Kassel (DSV) or Dresden (responsible for Hempel’s hometown of Meissen). Lawyer Summerer, who has also been fighting for speed skater Claudia Pechstein for damages after an allegedly unjustified doping ban for years, emphasized: “We’ll do it, even if it takes ten years.”
The Hempel case caused a stir in the summer of 2022. In the documentary Abused, the four-time European champion and 1996 Olympic silver medalist spoke about sexual abuse, including during the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. According to Hempel, the head of the association had informed him of the events in 1997.
