Olympic swimming coach Australian Dick Caine dead weeks after abuse conviction

An Olympic swimming coach convicted of sexually abusing six female students has died - just weeks after being found guilty of the crimes. Australian Dick Caine is understood to have been head coach at the Carss Park swimming pool in Sydney for more than 40 years, until he retired in 2018.

During his tenure, Caine trained several Olympic and world champion swimmers including Michelle Ford, Janelle Elford and Stacey Gartrell.

Caine, who had been in palliative care for terminal cancer, died on Wednesday morning, it is understood, at the age of 78. He was charged with 39 offences committed against the teenage girls in the 1970s and 1980s, with offences carried out at a swimming pool in Sydney, at his home and in his car.

Six victims were due to deliver their victim impact statements at a special hearing in December, though it is unclear the proceedings will continue after his death. At a hearing in August, District Judge Paul McGuire said Caine took an interest in pre-pubescent and pubescent girls - with one of his victims just 10 years old at the time.

After his arrest in 2022, Caine did not appear for any of his court hearings after he was deemed unfit to do so due to throat and lung cancer. Child protection activist Hetty Johnston told ABC in Australia: "The whole thing is just a tragedy that it took so long to get to this point of the legal process, that he's now passed."