Trent McNicol was an internationally respected swim coach with a passion for his job.

He took pride in motivating some 600 athletes over 19 years, more than half of them female, including big names like Pan American Games silver and bronze medallist Jen Beckberger.

But his life came crashing down last April when Durham police called him to their Oshawa station and charged him with sexual assault and sexual exploitation. The complainant was a girl who alleged the offences occurred when she was between 10 and 12, starting in 2005.

On Friday, Crown prosecutor Lori Anne Turner dropped the charges against the 43-year-old married father of two young women in the Oshawa courthouse, saying there was no reasonable prospect of conviction.

“To have it behind me is great,” McNicol said in an interview. “But I now have to spend the next — who knows? — six months, 20 years, rebuilding what I once had.”

When he was charged, with no criminal record or previous allegations, McNicol was held for 24 hours and granted bail under conditions including avoiding places where children under 16 might gather. That meant parks — and swimming pools.

He had to temporarily leave his family behind in Whitby and live in his native Brantford under the supervision of his father.

Durham police issued a news release with his photo, inviting other victims to come forward. None ever did.

The story was splashed all over the news.

McNicol lost his job of six years with the Whitby Dolphins Swim Club.

Swim Canada, Swim Ontario, the Coaching Association of Canada and the Canadian Swimming Coaches and Teachers Association all summarily revoked his credentials.

Word in the tight international swimming world got out immediately. Within 10 hours he got calls from friends in Florida and England. Hundreds of colleagues, pupils and parents wrote offering their support, he said.

The stakes were devastatingly high.

If convicted, he faced two to four years in jail besides being labelled a sex offender for life, his lawyer, Daniel Brown, told him.

“He always steadfastly maintained his innocence even when the Crown attorney came forward with plea bargains with much reduced sentences,” Brown said. “Those were outright rejected as they should have been.”

McNicol turned to renovating houses for a living.

As a coach, he had learned to be careful, and protect himself from situations where any such allegations could arise. This was baffling.

“It’s a roller coaster,” he said.

“You almost jokingly look around for a camera and say Allen Funt is going to pop out somewhere and say ‘Smile, you’re on Candid Camera.’ It just seems so surreal,” he said.

Watching his athletes succeed was McNicol’s passion. Now he’s not sure he even wants to coach again. If he does, he believes it will be an uphill battle getting back the respect he feels he’d earned.

When you Google his name, the charges come up.

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“Although it’s done and over with, I get to carry this with me for the rest of my life. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy,” he said.

Crown spokesman Brendan Crawley confirmed the charges were withdrawn Friday but refused detailed comment on the case.

“The Crown has a duty to assess the strength of a case throughout a prosecution, and is duty bound to withdraw charges if there is no reasonable prospect of conviction,” he wrote in an email.

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