Canadian authorities have finally taken action in the case of a coach banned for life but still central to work at the Dolphins Swim Club in Ontario.
If the club has had its pool time slashed and struggles to operate an elite programme as a result, the case centres on Cecil Russell, serving lifetime bans from swimming in Canada and worldwide, courtesy of suspension handed down by FINA.

Russell has this on his card:

• banned for life from coaching in Canada in 1997 for his involvement in an international steroid trafficking ring.
• at the 1997 murder trial of one of his steroid trafficking associates, Russell admitted helping burn and dispose of the victim’s butchered body in a corn silo beside his Oshawa home.
• Russell pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possession with intent to distribute ecstasy in 2003 and spent four years in prison in Spain and the US
• got his lifetime coaching ban lifted in 2005 by claiming he’d been exonerated in the ecstasy case … in fact US authorities proved that was not the case and lifetime bans were ultimately reinforced.

The wording of FINA's ban: Related Infraction - Cecil Russell (CAN). An application by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) and co-applicants Swimming Natation Canada (SNC) and Coaches of Canada (CofC) to have swimming coach Cecil Russell’s reinstatement decision set aside has been upheld and referred back to adjudicator Mr. Graham Mew for reconsideration based on additional evidence. On 10 of August 2009, the decision has been set aside on the basis that it was obtained by fraud.

With the setting aside of the reinstatement decision, Mr. Russell is again under a lifetime ban making him ineligible to participate in sport in any role.

Reporter Randy Starkman, of the Toronto Daily Star, starts this blog with the words: "The scene at Oakville city council this week strained credulity: Parents from the Dolphins Swim Club claiming it was a violation of human rights to strip the organization and their kids of their prime pool time."

He carries a quote from a parent who told a council determined to ensure that Russell had no contact with swimmers: "Please keep in mind the impact your decisions may have on shaping their values and views.

And he quotes Paul Melia, ceo for the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, as saying: “It always comes back to the question: Why aren’t the parents respecting the lifetime ban?” said Paul Melia, ceo for the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport. “Why are they continuing to take their children to this individual?

“And I guess we know the answer. This individual has obviously been able to convince them he’s been unfairly treated and they believe him to be a very successful and effective coach and they want their kids coached by him. These parents are flaunting that sanction. That’s probably the most disturbing part from our point of view.”

Little wonder that the reporter takes this view: "The reason the Dolphin Swim Club is in this predicament is because of their continued association with [Russell]."

The report notes that Russell "has continued to coach ever since while essentially thumbing his nose at the seemingly powerless swim authorities. It’s a black cloud that hangs over Canadian swimming."

The Dolphins have 10 swimmers trying to make the Canadian Olympic team, including Russell’s son Colin and daughter Sinead, who was a finalist in the women’s 100-metre backstroke at this year’s world championships. Sinead is training at the national centre at the University of Toronto at the moment.

When contacted by the reporter, Dolphins coach Erin Russell, wife of the banned coach, said that "the truth will come forward" when the case reaches court.

The reporter concludes: "We’ll see about that. Right now, it appears it's the Dolphin parents who can’t handle the truth."