Two former members of the Kentucky swim team filed a lawsuit accusing former swim coach Lars Jorgensen of rape and sexual assault, Katie Strang reported for The Athletic.
The lawsuit was filed Friday against Jorgensen and the university, as well as athletics director Mitch Barnhart and former head swim coach Gary Conelly, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Strang reported.
The lawsuit accused Kentucky of "complicity and deliberate indifference," and Jorgensen of "horrific sexual assaults and violent rapes," according to Strang.
Jorgensen coached the Kentucky swim and dive program for 10 years. He was suspended with pay in May 2023 and resigned from his position in June, according to Jon Hale of the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Jorgensen appeared in the U.S. Center for SafeSport's disciplinary database in November, which restricted his ability to coach without supervision, per Riley Overend of SwimSwam.
Strang reported that three team members said they had spoken to SafeSport alleging abuse, harassment and assault regarding Jorgensen.
One swim team member said in an email obtained by Strang that she reached out to SafeSport because she was unsatisfied with UK's response.
According to the lawsuit, two swim team members, one of them anonymous, said Kentucky allegedly discouraged them to report their allegations of abuse.
The lawsuit also states that Kentucky "was aware of Coach Jorgensen's predisposition to harass young women" prior to officially hiring him.
According to Strang, Kentucky leadership received "at least three" reports in 2012, 2014 and 2019 of allegations against Jorgensen.
Some of these allegations involved Jorgensen's time at the the University of Toledo, where he served as head coach from 2004 to 2010.
One such allegation cited in the lawsuit involved a Toledo assistant coach telling Conelly, then the program's head swim coach, that Jorgensen had dated a student-athlete on the Toledo swim team.
The lawsuit says Conelly was "circumventing university policy related to reporting complaints of sexual harassment/assault" by not reporting the allegation to UK.
Conelly said he reached out to the student in 2012 and was told she and Jorgensen started dating only after she left the team, per Strang. He retired in 2013.
Jorgensen's May suspension, which Overend reported included a one-week suspension for all members of the coaching staff, was "due to the continuation of one or more investigations," according to a letter from Barnhart to Jorgensen obtained by Hale.
Kentucky and Jorgensen ended up settling for $75,000 in an agreement that did not require him to admit fault, Hale reported.
Strang reported new details about this investigation, which involved alleged violations of NCAA regulations "related to punishment swims and non-voluntary practice hour overages."
During the investigation, Kentucky received reports of Jorgensen allegedly mandating "punishment workouts," withholding food depending on competition results, regulating of swimmers' food intake and body weight, and making comments about their bodies, according to Strang.
The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial and relief including compensation for "medical expenses, loss of earnings, mental anguish, anxiety, humiliation, and embarrassment, violation of plaintiffs' Constitutional, federal, and state rights," according to the lawsuit.
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