Two parents of young swimmers took the podium up at last week's La Mirada City Council meeting to defend U.S. Olympic artistic swimming coach Hiea-Yoon Kang, who was suspended from her coaching position at Splash! La Mirada Regional Aquatics Center amid a reported investigation into allegations of abusive behavior against athletes.
Kang, who established and coached the world-renowned La Mirada Aquabelles, is the subject of an investigation by the U.S. Center for SafeSport, as first reported by the Orange County Register.
Eighteen people have filed complaints with the U.S. Center for SafeSport since 2022, according to interviews and SafeSport documents, according to the newspaper.
But two fathers of Aquabelles addressed the City Council during the June 25 meeting to express support for Kang and question her suspension.
The first dad said his daughter was referred to in the article and he questions its integrity "I was there when it happened and what I can tell you at best it was a gross misrepresentation. We as parents were never called upon to verify the facts that were used in the article."
"My daughter was quoted and contextualized to make it seem like my family supports the allegations, which is patently false, said dad two.
Kang was not listed on SafeSports' online database of active investigation as of Monday.
Watch and/or listen to the council meeting here. Click public comment for the parents complete statements.