By Braden Keith on SwimSwam
A Canadian teenager has filed a lawsuit alleging that she was sexually assaulted by a trainer who worked with her swim team when she was 15-years-old.
The suit alleges that Jeffrey Babister made inappropriate physical contact and engaged in sexualized behavior toward the plaintiff in 2022 and 2023 while conducting strength-training sessions as part of their training program. The plaintiff, identified only by their initials in court documents, has filed for $250,000 in general damages and $500,000 in special damages.
This follows criminal charges from late 2023 that were eventually withdrawn in November 2024. At the time, at least one individual from the local Masters swimming and fitness community posted on social media in support of Babister, calling it a “false allegation.”
The athlete swam their last competitive meet around the time the criminal suit was filed.
The civil suit says that swimmers regularly attended ‘conditioning sessions’ at Fitness Cave Fitness Studio in Georgetown, Ontario, where Babister worked as a trainer. Babister is also affiliated with Naturally Fit Coaching and The Bao Institute for Healthy Living in the area.
Babister is a former elite triathlete who raced at the ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships in 2000 in Nice, France in the 30-34 age group. His Instagram profile says that he is a “registered triathlon coach,” though it is unclear what that means.
The court documents outline several alleged inappropriate behaviors, including:
Babister would ask athletes to lie on the ground and then Babister would lie on top of them to perform stretches or massages. The plaintiff says they were sexualized The plaintiff alleges that Babister sometimes slapped swimmers on the butt, one time telling her that he preferred her “tighter shorts.”Babister wrote an email to Canadian sports news outlet TSN, which first reported on the suit, denying the allegations.
“In October 2023, I was charged with sexual assault and sexual interference of a swim team member in the middle of a group training session,” Babister wrote. “The charges were withdrawn the following year without going to a trial by the Crown…I have now been served with a civil claim and am seeking to defend this whole ordeal once more. Finding proper legal representation is proving difficult, but I will be obtaining those services… Print what you will, but I absolutely have done nothing of a sexual nature to anyone I have ever trained.”
The suit names the swim club and Swim Ontario as co-defendants, alleging negligence and breach of their duty of care. Swim Ontario for its part says that Babister was not a registered member and did not work for the club, and so was beyond their jurisdiction.
The case opens up questions about how far the responsibilities of youth sports organizations go when vetting outside trainers or others working with their athletes under child protection laws.
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