Jan Hempel accuses coach Werner Langer of sexual abuse

German sport once again has to deal with serious allegations of dealing with sexual abuse. Jan Hempel, one of the best German water jumpers of recent decades, reports in the ARD documentary “Abusbt – Sexualized Violence in German Swimming” (Saturday, August 20, 10:40 p.m., from this Thursday in the ARD media library) for the first time publicly about the most serious sexual assaults in his youth by his long-time trainer Werner Langer. “I was abused by my trainer. He actually never missed a moment to let his wishes and needs run free,” says Hempel in the documentary.

The former professional athlete, who turns 51 this Sunday, won Olympic silver in Atlanta in 1996 and bronze in Sydney in 2000, in addition to numerous other international medals. He was trained by Langer when he was young. In the film by investigative journalist Hajo Seppelt, which SZ was able to see in advance, Hempel says he was eleven years old when Langer first abused him. The abuse lasted from 1982 to 1996. Hempel reports that rapes occurred regularly, including during the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, ​​at the competition site immediately before the competition.

“I just know that in the end you put up with it because he said things like: ‘If you do that, then you have this afternoon off.'” Langer can no longer comment on the allegations, he took his own life in 2001. Hempel says: “I think you owe it to others to talk about it in the future.”

The abuse allegations are among the most massive that a German world-class athlete has ever made public

Also because they are in danger of disappearing, Hempel now put his memories on paper. As described in the documentary, the former top athlete has recently developed Alzheimer’s disease.

The abuse allegations are among the most massive that a German world-class athlete has ever made public. Hempel claims to have informed the head of the German Swimming Association (DSV) of the events in 1997, but accuses the DSV of never really having dealt with the allegations. Rather, the association separated from Langer under a pretext – the trainer was a Stasi employee. “Everyone has been silent until today,” says Hempel.

The former water jumper names the long-time DSV official and trainer Lutz Buschkow, 64, as a key confidant, who still holds a top position in the association as the national water jump coach and is currently with the DSV delegation at the European Swimming Championships in Rome. Specifically, Hempel Buschkow accuses the film of having contributed to the fact that his case of abuse was never processed and no lessons were learned for the future. Another eyewitness confirms in the documentation that Buschkow was informed about Hempel’s allegations at the time. Buschkow himself did not answer an ARD request about the allegations.

Hempel’s descriptions are one of a whole series of allegations and already documented cases of sexualized abuse in German swimming. It was only last February that the district court of Würzburg sentenced the former long-distance national coach Stefan Lurz to a six-month suspended sentence and a fine of 1,500 euros. The public prosecutor’s office had already investigated Lurz in 2010, but was unable to confirm the suspicion at the time. Again Spiegel reported in February 2021, this was also due to the fact that several people from his environment are said to have given false testimony for him.

Particularly delicate: The responsible district court in Würzburg confirmed to the ARD team that Stefan Lurz, according to the conditions of probation, is currently prohibited from “any professional and voluntary work in connection with swimming”. However, recordings in the documentation obviously show Lurz when he works on the premises and in the premises of the SV Würzburg 05 club. According to internal documents, he is now employed there as a commercial employee. The president of SV Würzburg is the former long-distance world champion Thomas Lurz, the brother of Stefan Lurz, who only gives very evasive answers to specific questions in the documentation.

Open detailed view

The former DSV competitive sports director Thomas Kurschilgen finds Stefan Lurz’s presence on the club premises scandalous: “For me, that is an unparalleled disrespect for the athletes swimming there,” he told ARD. “When he sees these pictures, who can safely lead young athletes from the area to this federal base? I’m really speechless”. Kurschilgen was in 2021 as part of the Spiegel-Research into the Lurz case was dismissed by the current DSV presidium because of alleged inactivity, which he vehemently denies. He is currently conducting a lawsuit against the DSV.

The DSV, on the other hand, is said to have only reacted to the apparently rather broad interpretation of Lurz’ probation conditions by SV Würzburg 05 after concrete research in the summer. As a result, Würzburg should now lose its status as a federal base and Stefan Lurz should lose his coaching license.

The documentation highlights further cases of sexualised violence in German swimming. Three former athletes from Bavaria, who want to remain anonymous for understandable reasons, report that they were abused by their coach in the club when they were 15, 13 or 10 years old. The trainer, meanwhile also working in the care of the DSV juniors, has since been sentenced to more than four years in prison for years of abusing young swimmers.

At the 2021 Summer Games in Tokyo, a person belonging to the swimming association is said to have verbally harassed two women

In addition, the case of two female members of the DSV delegation during the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo is described, who filed a complaint internally after a male member of the association had repeatedly verbally abused them sexually. Although the DSV prevention officer called for consequences according to ARD information, the impression of those affected was that nothing happened. The current DSV leadership around President Marco Troll only let it be known that the man “possibly” violated “good governance rules”.

At the end of the film, Jan Hempel returns to Barcelona as a traumatized man, to the scene of his 1992 Olympic competition – and to the place that became a nightmare for him in terms of sport, but above all mentally. The then 20-year-old was on his way to a medal from the ten-meter tower when his three-and-a-half Auerbach somersault failed completely. Now, 20 years later, one can at least guess why.