UC Irvine is investigating allegations that water polo participant Nina Flynn, an honorable point out All-American in 2022, inappropriately touched opposing gamers’ intimate physique elements throughout a match final month.
Flynn, a redshirt sophomore, was suspended by UCI’s Title IX workplace on Feb. 23 after the college acquired allegations that Flynn touched the intimate physique elements of two Loyola Marymount gamers throughout a Feb. 16 match, in keeping with Flynn’s lawyer.
Whereas Flynn’s suspension was lifted on March 10, the UCI Title IX workplace is continuing with a proper investigation of Flynn and the alleged incident, in keeping with Alison P. Saros, Flynn’s lawyer, and a college official.
“Nina maintains she isn't accountable in any manner for the allegations and that after with (the) Title IX (workplace) and movie evaluation and different proof introduced the suspension was lifted and she or he was allowed to return to the pool whereas the investigation continues,” Saros mentioned.
UCI and LMU officers declined to remark, citing the continuing investigation.
UCI head coach Dan Klatt and LMU head coach Ikaika Aki didn't reply to requests for remark.
Flynn, the older sister of Stanford and U.S. nationwide crew participant Jenna Flynn, scored 4 targets in UCI’s 11-8 victory over LMU. Flynn had an help in a 17-3 victory towards Cal State Fullerton on March 12.
In a present of solidarity with Flynn, Anteater gamers, over the objections of athletic division and college officers, refused to play within the prestigious Barbara Kalbus Invitational on Feb. 24-26, Saros mentioned. The Kalbus match, hosted by UCI, is yearly one of many largest occasions on the ladies’s school water polo calendar. This 12 months’s occasion featured eight of the nation’s prime 9 ranked Division I groups in addition to Pomona-Pitzer, the top-ranked Division III squad.
A mum or dad of one among Flynn’s UCI teammates has began a GoFundMe web page to lift cash to pay Flynn’s authorized bills.
“A violation beneath the relevant Title IX Rules solely requires the intentional touching of a Complainant’s intimate physique half(s) with out consent, whether or not clothed or unclothed,” David Tedesco, an lawyer who created the GoFundMe web page, wrote. “An intimate physique half is outlined because the genitals, anus, groin, breast, or buttocks. There are not any exceptions. With a definition so broad, each water polo sport, male or feminine, is filled with such Title IX violations.
“Primarily based upon these accusations, UCI might expel Nina from UCI and refer the matter for felony prosecution, or exclude her from the UCI girls’s water polo crew, amongst different sanctions. Along with the 2023 season, Nina has two extra seasons of NCAA eligibility left.
“Nina and the remainder of the UCI girls’s water polo crew vehemently deny these accusations and are decided to not solely combat for Nina’s innocence, but in addition for the integrity of water polo. If a Title IX investigation turns into the discussion board for alleged sport time transgressions, chaos to all water polo applications will end result.”