A woman who revealed she was sexually abused by her 40-year-old rowing coach when she was just 13 has now named her perpetrator.
In a new interview with The New York TimesJennifer Fox, 63, said Olympic medalist and rowing coach Ted Nash was the man who assaulted her as a child.
“The adult part of me wants to move on, but that kid in me wants to face it, get it over with, and name it,” Fox told the outlet. “There was a part of me saying, I won’t let you rest until you name it.”
Nash died in 2021 at the age of 88 and Fox told the New York Times that she was reading his ‘glowing’ obituaries which pushed her to step up.
Fox’s 2018 made-for-TV movie ‘The Tale,’ starring Laura Dern, Jason Ritter, Elizabeth Debicki and Ellen Burstyn, depicted her story and was nominated for an Emmy, multiple Independent Spirit Awards and a Golden Globe.
In a new interview with The New York Times, Jennifer Fox, 63, said Olympic medalist and rowing coach Ted Nash was the man who assaulted her as a child.
Olympic medalist Ted Nash is the man Fox says assaulted her when she was 13.
Fox first met Nash in 1973 when she began taking riding lessons with farm owner Susie Buchanan, who she says groomed her to have sex acts with Nash.
In high school articles he wrote years after the attacks occurred, Fox claims he detailed the relationship with Nash and Buchanan.
In the 2018 film about her story, ‘The Crown’ actress Elizabeth Debicki plays Buchanan, renamed ‘Mrs. G’ for anonymity.
Jason Ritter, best known for his roles in ‘Parenthood’ and ‘A Million Little Things,’ plays ‘Bill,’ a substitute name for Nash.
Fox says the man was a skilled “handler” who inserted himself into leadership roles to get closer to girls, including coaching girls and women in races.
nash too she co-founded the Women’s National Rowing Association while serving as an unofficial track and field coach at a track club in Philadelphia.
“He was a highly esteemed, very talented and well-liked handler, he looked good, acted good and had all the right credentials,” Fox said.
In a statement to the New York Times, Nash’s surviving first wife said the allegations were surprising but not entirely shocking.
Aldina Nash-Hampe described the allegations as “sort of a surprise to me” but added that “He seemed to have affairs with a lot of women, and that’s one of the reasons I left.”
“He has a great reputation for being a wonderful guy,” Nash-Hampe said. But he has this story.
Fox’s 2018 made-for-TV movie ‘The Tale’ starred Laura Dern, Jason Ritter, Elizabeth Debicki and Ellen Burstyn. From left to right: Common, Isabelle Nelisse, Jennifer Fox, Laura Dern, Ellen Burstyn and Jason Ritter
Fox first met Nash in 1973 when she began taking riding lessons with farm owner Susie Buchanan, who she says groomed her to have sex acts with Nash.
Fox says the man was a skilled ‘handler’ who inserted himself into leadership roles to get closer to girls, including coaching girls and women in races.
The role of Fox was played by Laura Dern in the 2018 film.
The role of Nash, who was given the pseudonym ‘Bill’ in the film, was played by Jason Ritter.
Ritter (left) played ‘Bill’ while ‘The Crown’ star Elizabeth Debicki played ‘Mrs. G’, now identified as Susie Buchanan
In high school documents he wrote years after the attacks occurred, Fox claims he detailed the relationship with Nash and Buchanan.
Nash (left) with Dan Ayrault (right) while training for the 1960 Rome Olympics
Nash’s wife at the time of his death, on the other hand, said it’s “just not fair” for Fox to name her husband after his death and tarnish his legacy.
“Look, I didn’t know Ted at the time, so I can’t say anything about that time,” Jan Nash said in response to Fox’s allegations.
“(But) everything that Ted has done for women’s rowing, starting, promoting women, helping women, all these things that he’s done, are they forgotten because a woman comes out with an accusation?”
“It’s just not right that a woman can say something and all the good she’s done gets tainted,” she continued.
However, it was Nash’s brilliant ‘legacy’ that inspired Fox to finally name him after the man who assaulted her when she was just a child.
Nash was highly respected in the world of rowing and was often considered a “father figure” by many young rowing athletes.
In a book called ‘TThe Book of Ted’, written by Nash’s old friend Sean P. Colgan, the author says that Nash’s team often equated him with God.
The author said that in his 60-year relationship with the rowing coach he never saw “any dent in his moral credibility, whether it was cursing, lying, cheating, anything like that.”
Calling Fox’s allegations “absurd” Colgan said Nash had taken several vacations with his family and never displayed any attraction to the “younger crowd.”
“People who know Ted know that he’s a guy with integrity, the most integrity I’ve ever met in my life,” Colgan told the New York Times.
Fox said that seeing people describe “how amazing this human being is” was one of the main reasons she shared her truth and her name all these years later.
“I was so angry,” Fox said.
Fox said that seeing people describe “how amazing this human being is” was one of the main reasons he shared his truth and his name all these years later.
“I was so angry,” Fox said of seeing people congratulate Nash after his death.
In 2022, Fox filed a nine-page complaint against Nash with US Rowing, and an investigation into his allegations is ongoing.
US Rowing CEO Amanda Kraus said they are working to address the issue and improve their organization to better protect athletes.
“We’re not going to bury our heads in the sand because every time we do that, we allow more young people to get hurt in the future,” Kraus said.
‘So let’s talk about it. Let’s get it to the surface. I will say this all the time, nothing is more important than the safety of the youth,” he continued.
According to the New York Times story, the US Center for SafeSport declined jurisdiction over the case because Nash is dead.
“While the federation does not have the power to strip him of his Olympic medals, he said, it may choose to treat his legacy differently in the future,” they said.
