The Vortex, July 2025: Gibney To Be Extradited To Face 79 Charges Of Child Sex Abuse In Ireland
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A US judge has ordered the extradition of George Gibney, the former Irish swimming coach called to answer multiple child sexual abuse charges and claims in Ireland.
The order was made Friday by Daniel C Irick, a federal magistrate judge in Florida, after an 11-minute hearing attended by Gibney, former national coach to Ireland.
The 77-year-old filed an affidavit Thursday formally waiving his right to challenge the extradition request. That effectively brought to an end a 30-year hunt for Gibney since he fled Ireland in the early 1990s.
He is expected to return to Ireland in a matter of days. He faces 79 charges of sexual offences against four young girls between 1971 and 1981.
In the affidavit, he said he agreed "to be transported in custody, as soon as possible, to Ireland, and to remain in custody of the United States Marshal pending the arrival of duly authorised representatives from Ireland".
Gibney coached at two Olympics, Los Angeles in 1984 and Seoul in 1988. He also worked out of the Trojan Swimming Club in Newpark, Dublin. He was placed under oath and the contents of the affidavit were confirmed. Judge Irick committed Gibney to custody until such time as arrangements are in place for marshals to deliver him into the custody of Irish authorities.
After feeling, he worked as a coach in Scotland but soon left for he United States, where he also managed to work as a coach despite a warning sent to at leats one prospective employer by the American Swimming Coaches Association when the coach union was approached for an opinion.
Gibney was arrested as far back as April 1993 and charged with 27 counts of unlawful carnal knowledge and indecent assault of minors. However, he managed to avoid prosecution: the charges were dropped in 1994 after he secured a judicial review at the High Court to halt prosecution.
The decision was upheld by Ireland's Supreme Court and the Director of Public Prosecutions later decided Gibney should not face prosecution in respect of a second investigation into the alleged sexual abuse of other complainants.
However, more complainants came forward in 2020 after the "Where's George Gibney?" podcast was aired, sparking a fresh investigation and the multiple charges Gibney will now face in an Irish court.
Our coverage of his arrest in the U.S.
Craig Lord
Friday July 11
First Two Women Home To Olympic Gold and Silver - Fanny Durack and Mina Wylie - Given Blue Plaque Honours
Fanny Durack and Mina Wylie, the Australians who Stockholm in 1912 became the first women swimmers ever to claim Olympic gold and silver medals in the pool at the dawn of swimming for females at the Games, have been awarded News South Wales Blue Plaques.
Blue Plaques mark the places where great achievers in all realms lived in their youth or at the time when they became famous. The plaques can be found in many Commonwealth nations. Durack and Wylie were honoured by the NSW government in recognition of their pioneering efforts and how they made gave their state an eternal status of having produced the first Olympic champions in the history of women's swimming.
It was not without a great deal of struggle against the system, at a time when women joined men in Olympic waters 16 years after the blokes first took the plunge, at Athens 1896. In 1912, Durack and Wylie were told 'you can't go - there's only funding for the men'! So, guess what...
Their pioneering story here, with bronze medallist in the 100m freestyle, Great Britain's Jennie Fletcher and the first Olympic women's relay champions, Fletcher and her GBR teammates:
Craig Lord
Also In the July Vortex:
- Paris To Host Euros July 31-August 16, 2026
Craig Lord
Craig Lord
