Investigation · Michael Volpe
Plagiarizing Pros
Eney Jones, a former US National Team swimmer, says Bryan Mineo built his writing reputation by lifting work from her and other elite open water professionals.
Eney Jones
Eney Jones is my latest guest on the podcast.
She is an elite swimmer and has been for over four decades. She was even on the US National Team ready to go to the Olympics in 1980 before the US boycotted.
Eney has crossed paths with Bryan Mineo, who was the subject of this post.
I investigated Bryan and his non-profit One With the Ocean (OWO). I found that he collects an enormous portion of his donations toward his own salary and doesn’t follow proper safety protocols.
In that post, I interviewed Gerry Rodrigues, himself an elite swimmer and swimming coach, and Gerry, referring to Bryan’s swimming skills, stated:
“Of which he had none.”
Eney agreed that Bryan’s background and experience is far less than hers and Gerry’s.
Bryan dated and then married an elite triathlete, but she told me that he built a reputation by first being attached to her.
He also built his reputation further by publishing work in swimming magazines.
As Gerry told me previously, most of that work was lifted from Gerry and others.
Eney explained that she experienced something like this as well, when she submitted an outline for an article to a triathlon magazine.
She was shocked to see her work get published — but under Bryan’s by-line. She explained further in a letter she wrote:
“I had been a swimmer on the US National Team. I was the first woman out of the swim (6 times) in the Ironman World Championships, many times I was the first person out of the swim — male or female — in the race. I had become a coach and a teacher and I had worked with such high-profile triathletes as Rinny Carfrae and Angela Naeth. I had made a difference.
“I felt I was really on to something to shorten the learning swim curve for triathletes. I sent emails with what I proposed. Articles I suggested like ‘3 ways to improve your swimming posture.’”
Jene Shaw at the magazine said, “She felt sorry for him and was throwing him a bone.” She also told me “not to worry about it because they only pay $300 per article” and that she was using him for the swim clinics “because he was already in California.” She continued on to tell me she liked using Sara McLarty because she “didn’t have to even read what she sent in.” I wondered what kind of editor this was.
Within the hour Bryan Mineo called me. He had just met Jene for Happy Hour. He told me:
“If I kept this up, I would wish I never met him.”
I told him, “I already wish I had never met you.” It was not a pleasant ordeal. He was threatening me. I could not believe Jene Shaw had given him my phone number but now knew she just fed him with information, personal and public. She then subsequently blocked me on social media, which I thought was odd, because who is blocked by a magazine’s Twitter feed?
It’s noteworthy that about five days after I published the original post, I received a cease-and-desist letter which is about as threatening as Bryan was with Eney.
Eney told me that she’s glad he’s built a community and inspired many to try swimming, particularly in the ocean.
She also said:
“You have to do it the right way.”
She doesn’t believe that Bryan Mineo is teaching swimming the right way or running his non-profit the right way.
Post Script
To date, neither Mineo nor his attorney have sought “all available remedies, including but not limited to suing for defamation.”