Who Is David Hearn? US Olympian Faced for Vandalizing Reflecting Pool

A Curious Citizen's Unfortunate Encounter with the Reflecting Pool

An Olympic canoeist has found himself in a controversial situation after being accused of vandalizing the iconic Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C. David Hearn, 67, who represented the United States in three Summer Olympics, has denied the allegations that he damaged the newly refurbished Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. He was arrested by the U.S. Park Police on Saturday and is now set to appear in court next month.

Hearn told The Associated Press that his actions were driven by curiosity rather than malice. According to him, he reached into the pool to examine the peeling new coating and briefly touched a chunk that was still attached to the side of the pool. He claims he let go shortly after a park worker instructed him to stop.

"I'm a curious citizen," Hearn said. "I reached down to see what it felt like. It was very rubbery."

This incident has sparked a wave of public interest, especially given Hearn's storied career as an athlete and his family's deep ties to the world of canoeing and kayaking.

A Legacy of Excellence in Canoeing

David Hearn comes from a family deeply rooted in the sport of canoeing. His father, Carter Hearn, was a geologist and expert canoeist who continued to paddle treacherous whitewater well into his late 60s. His older sister, Cathy, is a two-time Olympian in women's kayak and won three gold medals at the World Championships in 1979. She is also a member of the 2001 World Championship Team.

His brother, Bill, was also a member of the United States Canoe and Kayak National Team (USACK). Meanwhile, his wife, Jennifer, was a member of the USACK Women's National Slalom Team and served as David's paddling coach from 1996 to 2001. She started out as an assistant slalom team manager at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona while still competing, then focused on helping David's paddling career full-time from 1996 onward.

Hearn's website claims he was an Olympic torch bearer for the 1996 Atlanta Games. He was among 23 canoe/kayak athletes who participated in the nationwide Olympic Torch Relay and was chosen to carry the torch into Washington, D.C.

"It was an incredible honor to be a torch bearer for the Olympics in my own state," reads a quote from him on the website.

A History of Controversy

Hearn's arrest this week was not his first with the U.S. Park Police. His history with them goes back nearly three decades, according to a 1996 Washington Post article. That year, the Potomac River turned violent due to heavy rains, pushing the water to a near-record flood level. Authorities issued an emergency river closure, but Hearn saw it as an irresistible playground.

He took his whitewater canoe straight into the raging rapids. U.S. Park Police officers spotted him and ordered him to paddle over to the riverbank. When Hearn's boat touched the federally-controlled shore, officers arrested him. He was charged with failing to obey a lawful order, but he fought the case in court and won on a technicality.

A federal judge ruled that the Potomac River itself is controlled by the state of Maryland, meaning the federal Park Police had no jurisdiction over the water. Furthermore, because the police had ordered Hearn to paddle over to the federal riverbank, they couldn't legally penalize him for being there.

Now, almost 30 years later, Hearn's curiosity and his old rivals at the Park Police have collided once again.

The Incident at the Reflecting Pool

Hearn was finishing up a grueling 52-mile bike ride when he swung by the Reflecting Pool this week. He reached down into the water, insisting he didn't pull or tear anything. But it didn't matter.

Moments later, the 67-year-old was surrounded by National Guard troops and U.S. Park Police officers. Journalist Emily Miller happened to be there and filmed a two-minute video of Hearn being detained, which quickly went viral on X.

Miller accused Hearn of grabbing a hose that female National Park Service workers were using to clear the algae. Hearn denied the accusation, though he admitted his bike tire might have bumped it.

"I didn't vandalize anything," Hearn told The Washington Post. "By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs."

Hearn was slapped with a misdemeanor charge for destruction of government property.

Political Reactions

In a statement on Truth Social Saturday night, Trump announced "many additional people" have been arrested after suspects "took some form of knife or blade, and put a 250-foot-long gash into the beautiful facade of what took so much work, competence, and money to build and complete."

The president also alleged suspects "poured corrosive and destructive chemicals" into the basin.

"It hasn’t looked or worked like this since 1922, when it was originally built, but even then, it leaked badly, and didn’t work," Trump wrote in the post. "Ours worked perfectly, including the mirror like finish, perfectly reflecting the two Great Monuments, which it never had before! What these terrible Vandals have done is a true affront to both Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and should be dealt with accordingly."

Fox News Digital has reached out to an email address on Hearn's website for comment.