Mark Schubert is unmistakable on the pool deck at the Asian Games. The former head coach of the U.S. national swimming team is now wearing different colors — an orange shirt with the Chinese flag on his chest.
Dismissed in 2010 as the U.S. national team head coach amid a sexual abuse scandal, Schubert has been working for a year as a "part-time adviser" for the Chinese team.
"It's feels strange, very strange," Schubert told The Associated Press on Wednesday as he stood alongside the warm-up pool at the Asian Games.
Mark Schubert former USA Swimming's National Team head coach, works on the pool deck with Chinese swim team members at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018. Dismissed in 2010 as the American head coach, Schubert has been working for a year as a "part-time adviser" for the Chinese team. (AP PhotoLee Jin-man)
Schubert is a controversial figure despite unprecedented success. Some fault him for not doing enough in his long career to protect swimmers from sexual abuse.
Olympic swimmer Ariana Kukors Smith sued USA Swimming in May, alleging the sport's national governing body knew her former coach, Sean Hutchison, sexually abused her as a minor and failed to protect her.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Superior Court in Orange County, California, also named Schubert, saying he failed to report "a reasonable suspicion of child abuse or endangerment."
Mark Schubert, left, former USA Swimming's National Team head coach, talks with former Australian swim coach Dennis Cottrell at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018. Dismissed in 2010 as the American head coach, Schubert has been working for a year as a "part-time adviser" for the Chinese team. (AP PhotoLee Jin-man)
Hutchison, an assistant coach on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team, has denied the allegations and has not been charged with a crime.
After he was fired by USA Swimming, Schubert worked for a while with a then 40-year-old Janet Evans during her unsuccessful Olympic comeback. He has returned recently as a coach at the Mission Viejo Nadadores in southern California.
As the U.S. national team coach — Olympic coach in 2008 in Beijing — Schubert was outspoken about issues of doping involving Chinese swimmers.
Mark Schubert former USA Swimming's National Team head coach, works on the pool deck with Chinese swim team members at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018. Dismissed in 2010 as the American head coach, Schubert has been working for a year as a "part-time adviser" for the Chinese team. (AP PhotoLee Jin-man)
He said he was most critical beginning in 1994 at the world championships.
"That's when they got the really bad reputation, when they won almost every event in 1994," Schubert said. "I think they've really made an effort to clean up. From what I've seen, most of the problems are out in the provinces with local coaches and kind of renegade athletes.
"At the highest level," he added, "particularly at their training center, they won't even let (swimmers) off the campus to eat because they are afraid of (food) contamination."
Schubert said in the last year he's held several camps in southern California with Chinese swimmers, who train with his mostly high school and college swimmers.
"It's good for my team because they can see how really good athletes train, and believe me I point it out to them," Schubert said.
Asked where China's top swimmers could improve, he said there were four areas.
"It's the little things," he said. "The starts, turns, finishes, and the relay takeoffs. I think it cost them some races here. As for training, they work hard. I mean, they really work hard."
Schubert said his current deal ends in just a few days, and he said it's unclear if he will continue.
"It's up to them," he said.
He described his motivation as "just business."
"You know there is some pretty good money involved," he said, declining to say how much. "It feels funny, but you know I was kicked to the curb when I was fired as head national team coach. So it's nice to be involved at this level."
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Wouldn't you know it? The season of the kicker came down to a missed kick.
Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Chris Boswell hadn't missed an extra point all season until Ravens safety Kevon Johnson got a hand on the PAT after Aaron Rodgers threw a 26-yard touchdown pass with 55 seconds left Sunday night against the Baltimore Ravens in a win-or-go-home final regular-season game.
That blocked extra point, which the NFL this week officially changed from a missed PAT, left the Steelers clinging to a 26-24 lead and when Lamar Jackson connected with Isaiah Likely for a 26-yard gain on fourth-and-7 from the 50-yard line, it looked as if Rodgers would be missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.
He sat on the Steelers bench looking forlorn as Jackson took the next snap and shuffled toward the right hashmark to set up rookie kicker Tyler Loop for the potential 44-yard game-winner.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh — who parted ways with the team on Tuesday after 18 seasons in Baltimore, a person with knowledge of the move told The Associated Press — called timeout with 2 seconds left and Loop trotted out to send the Ravens into the playoffs and end the Steelers season.
He hadn't missed inside of 50 yards all season.
The snap was good, the hold was good but Loop didn't kick the ball cleanly. He said he knew as soon as it came off his foot funny that he'd pushed it to the right.
Maybe Harbaugh should have tried to get Loop a little closer, but 44 yards is a gimme for kickers nowadays.
“It was a close kick,” said Harbaugh, who put his arm around Loop as they walked off the field and into the tunnel afterward. “We wanted to center the ball. We wanted to make sure we got the (chance to) kick. We didn't want something bad to happen on the run. I don't think that was a bad decision.”
Field goals of 40- to 50-yards are now considered short kicks. Fifty-plus is medium.
Sixty-plus tries used to be unheard of. Not anymore.
Kickers have enjoyed unprecedented success with long-distance field goals of 60 or more yards the past two seasons thanks to rule changes favoring the specialists, such as the new K-ball, and more trust from coaches, leading to game strategy shifts and historic accuracy.
Jacksonville kicker Cam Little kicked the two longest field goals in NFL history this season, nailing a 68-yarder at Las Vegas in Week 9 and splitting the uprights with a 67-yarder Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.
Sixty-yard field goals are no longer a big risk but a realistic expectation for today's kickers. Dallas' Brandon Aubrey made three field goals from beyond 60 yards this season, and overall kickers were 12 for 22 on field goals of 60-plus yards in 2025.
Denver Broncos kicker Wil Lutz said the tweaks in the kickoff rules in 2025 allowed kickers to save their legs by not having to blast every kickoff out of the back of the end zone as they used to. That, in turn, has allowed them to have more oomph on field goal attempts in the fourth quarter or overtime.
“Anytime your body feels better it helps,” said Lutz, whose five game-winning field goals helped the Broncos (14-3) earn the top seed in the AFC playoffs and the first-round bye that goes with it. “Yeah, you feel fresher, you feel good, feel strong. I would say most kicker injuries probably came from full-speed kickoffs and you're not seeing that.”
Loop had plenty of length Sunday night, it's just that he didn't kick the ball as he had on all the other 29 field-goal attempts he'd made from inside 50 yards this season.
“The operation was great,” Loop said in the sullen locker room afterward. "It was a great situation, exactly what we wanted. And unfortunately, I just mis-hit the ball. We call it ‘hitting it thin,’ it spins fast and goes off to the right.
“I love this team and I love these guys. I wish it would have ended different."
Behind the Call analyzes the biggest decisions in the NFL during the season.
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Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) greets tight end Pat Freiermuth (88) after an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Baltimore Ravens kicker Tyler Loop (33) reacts after missing a field goal in the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
