Strap on your goggles for the wild, and until now untold, story of an iconic but now disgraced Harvard University swim coach named Joe Bernal. He mentored legendary swimmer David Berkoff, inventor of the revolutionary "Berkoff Blastoff" underwater backstroke start. Bernal himself was on U.S. Olympic team staffs in 1984 and 1988, and was inducted into three Halls of Fame — all this before his lifetime achievement honors were rescinded after he was banned by USA Swimming for multiple episodes of sexual abuse.
On Oct. 1, Bernal reportedly died in Florida at age 82. In some corners of the anti-abuse activist community, there was speculation that his death had been faked for complicated business reasons. We'll get to that, but at this point the speculation seems unfounded. It's true that there's a record of a call from Bernal's phone four days after his reported death. As of this writing, there is no evidence that a death certificate has been filed, as funeral homes in Florida are required to do within 96 hours. A source told Salon through an intermediary, however, that he saw a body that appeared to be Bernal's in a casket at the wake held for the former coach in Boca Raton.
