Olympic swim coach Dick Caine undergoing psychiatric review before child sex trial

Lawyers for renowned Sydney swim coach Dick Caine have hired a psychiatrist to carry out an immediate assessment of his cognitive health ahead of his trial on child sex charges.

Lawyers for renowned Sydney swim coach Dick Caine are so concerned about their client’s mental capacity to stand trial on historic child sex charges they have hired a psychiatrist to carry out an immediate assessment of his cognitive health, a court has heard.

Caine, one of the country’s most successful swim coaches, who trained Olympic and world champions in his 40-year career, was due to face Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court on Friday for arraignment on 40 charges stemming from allegations he sexually abused seven young girls at the Carss Park swimming pool, in Sydney’s south, between the 1970s and 1990s.

However, his legal team told the court they were seeking to adjourn the proceedings and delay his arraignment for up to two months so a psychiatrist could complete a comprehensive assessment to determine if Caine was mentally fit to stand trial.

“(His) fitness (to stand trial) was raised as an issue in the Local Court,” the lawyer said.

“A (psychiatric) report is already under way.”

Former Olympic swim coach Dick Caine (centre) with his wife Jenny (right) and a lawyer in June last year after being granted bail in Bankstown Local Court. Picture: Monique Harmer

The Crown opposed the adjournment, saying prosecutors were ready to have the matter listed for trial.

Judge Timothy Gartelmann adjourned the case for three weeks, telling the court eight weeks seemed “an inordinate amount of time” for a such a report to be prepared.

Caine at his Aquatic and Fitness Centre in Carrs Park in 2009.

Caine’s health battles have previously been at the centre of his bid for mercy from the court, with a magistrate granting him bail after his initial arrest in June last year in part due to his multiple health conditions.

During that hearing, Caine’s wife Jenny told the court her 77-year-old husband suffered from terminal cancer, major depression, seizures, heart problems and sleep apnoea, and had “maybe six months” to live.

“He has strokes, he has cancer of the lung, cancer of the throat. He has seizures, he has heart problems, he has a pacemaker,” she explained.

The magistrate agreed to grant bail on a $10,000 surety, noting the delay for trial dates in the NSW District Court at the time was longer than Caine’s life expectancy.

A court has previously heard police set up Strike Force Coco in January 2021 to investigate claims by a woman that she had been molested by Caine while a student at the swim school in the mid-1970s.

A second alleged victim came forward, another former student, to make claims she was abused at about the same time, police allege.

Caine was initially charged with nine offences relating to the two women, however more people have since come forward with allegations against the high-profile coach.

Seven women in total have come forward to accuse Caine of fondling or raping them while they were students at the school.

The youngest alleged victim was aged just 10 at the time of the alleged assaults, court documents reveal.

Caine will remain on bail until his next court date on June 23, however he is not required to attend court if he is legally represented.