USA Diving has lifted the suspension of John Appleman, an Ohio State diving coach who the University of Arizona briefly employed in April before rescinding its offer amid a growing scandal.
Appleman's name was mentioned in a federal class action lawsuit filed against the Ohio State University Diving Club and former coach Will Bohonyi, saying that Bohonyi sexually abused 50 divers at Ohio State and USA Diving, including a minor. Within days, USA Diving announced its suspension of Appleman and the UA rescinded its employment offer to Appleman, saying his "employment was not finalized." He has since returned to Ohio State.
The lawsuit says that Bohonyi forced the underage girl to perform a sex act on him on the Ohio State campus when she was 16 and the two later had sex in the coach's hotel room. The lawsuit says that one of the victim's teammates reported the abuse to Appleman, then an OSU assistant, in 2014, but neither Appleman nor the school took action. Appleman is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Bohonyi has since been fired by Ohio State and banned by USA Diving.
On Friday, USA Diving received notice that the US Center for SafeSport had completed its inquiry into allegations that Appleman "engaged in behaviors that may constitute a violation of the SafeSport Code" and closed the investigation, saying that the Center would not be proceeding with any further inquiry, according to a statement on the USA Diving website.
If the Center receives any additional information or evidence, it can reopen the inquiry, the statement said.
As a result of the Center's decision, USA Diving withdrew its interim suspension of Appleman and reinstated his membership, effective immediately, according to the statement.
On Monday, the UA announced its hiring of Dwight Dumais as the school's new diving coach. Dumais comes from the University of Texas, where he coached at the Longhorn Aquatic Club.
The 32-year-old Dumais has served as a coach for USA Diving in various international competitions, including the 2017 World Championships in Budapest. The Ventura, California native was a five-time All-America diver at Stanford, where he won the 2007 and 2009 one-meter Pac-10 Championship. He qualified for the Olympic Trials in both 2012 and 2016.
Dumais is the third diving coach in the last six months. Omar Ojeda, a one-time Pac-12 women’s diving coach of the year, Olympic coach and arguably the greatest male diver in UA history, was not retained after the 2018 season. The reasons for his departure remain unclear.
