Swimming

A spokeswoman for the University of Kentucky said the school is "distressed to hear disturbing allegations" of sexual assault leveled against former swimming and diving coach Lars Jorgensen, according to the Associated Press.

This comes after The Athletic's Katie Strang reported on a lawsuit filed by two former members of the Wildcats swimming and diving team.

The athletes allege the school displayed "complicity and deliberate indifference" toward Jorgensen, which enabled him "to foster a toxic, sexually hostile environment within the swim program and to prey on, sexually harass, and commit horrific sexual assaults and violent rapes against young female coaches and collegiate athletes who were reliant on him."

Kentucky spokeswoman Kristi Willett said Wednesday that school officials reached out to the necessary law enforcement when made aware of the allegations laid out in Strang's report, per the AP. Willett added that the university has "no tolerance for harm, harassment or abuse."

"To our employees, students and the entire University of Kentucky family, we want to be absolutely clear: we do not tolerate these types of behaviors," she said. "We will do everything possible to ensure the safety and well-being of our students, faculty and staff."

Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart previously declined to comment on the matter, citing the ongoing litigation.

"We always want to have safety for our student-athletes, our coaches and our staff, but other than that, I can't say anything," he told reporters.

Strang reported there were at least three instances of allegations involving Jorgensen coming to light, and in some cases Kentucky administrators were contacted directly.

Mark Howard, who was an assistant swimming coach at Toledo, emailed Barnhart and then-Wildcats swim coach Gary Conelly in June 2012 to say he had been told of a sexual relationship between Jorgensen and a Rockets swimmer. At the time, Conelly had hired Jorgensen as an associate head coach.

Per Strang, an alleged "long-term romantic relationship" between Jorgensen and a student-athlete was subsequently referenced in a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a former Toledo softball coach in October 2014.

Then in August 2019, two swim coaches from San Jose State contacted their Title IX office to report allegations against Jorgensen. San Jose State's Title IX officer spoke with their counterpart at Kentucky.

Jorgensen resigned from his post with the Wildcats last June after he was suspended with pay by the school. The Lexington Herald-Leader's Jon Hale reported he received $75,000 as part of a financial settlement regarding his departure.

Greg Anderson, an attorney for Jorgensen, denied the allegations laid out in the lawsuit in a statement on behalf of his client Wednesday and claimed the former coach is "being targeted for publicly supporting former UK swimmer Riley Gaines," per John Cheves of the Herald-Leader. Gaines is among the athletes who sued the NCAA over its policies toward transgender athletes.

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.

Multiple collegiate athletes in women's swimming, volleyball and track filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on Thursday regarding rules that allow transgender athletes to compete against women.

In the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, it is alleged that female athletes' Title IX rights are being violated by permitting transgender athletes to take part in women's sports, according to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN).

Two of the plaintiffs named in the suit include former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines and former Florida swimmer Tylor Mathieu.

Both Gaines and Mathieu took issue with transgender athlete Lia Thomas being cleared to swim against them.

Gaines, who was a first-team All-SEC performer, said in the lawsuit that she and other swimmers felt "shock" when they were told they would have to share a locker room with Thomas. Gaines also mentioned tying for fifth with Thomas in the 200-yard freestyle at the 2022 NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving Championships and having to watch as Thomas was given the fifth-place trophy instead of her.

Mathieu was the highest finisher to not qualify for the 500-yard freestyle final in 2022, which Thomas won to become the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I NCAA title in any sport.

By virtue of failing to qualify for the final, Mathieu fell just short of being named a first-team All-American.

Thomas began her collegiate swimming career on the men's team at the University of Pennsylvania in 2017 before transitioning and joining the women's team in 2021.

Per the AP, the NCAA changed its rules regarding the participation of transgender athletes to align with changes made by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee in 2022.

However, in June 2022, world swimming governing body FINA announced that transgender athletes would not be allowed to compete in women's competitions unless they transitioned by the age of 12, ending Thomas' dreams of attempting to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Three University of Wyoming swimmers died Thursday in a single-vehicle crash in northern Colorado, according to Ryan Thorburn of the Casper Star-Tribune.

Wyoming swim coach Dave Denniston said that the team is "devastated," and the program is set to release more information once the families of the victims have been notified. Per Thorburn, two other passengers also suffered injuries related to the crash.

The three swimmers were 18, 19, and 21 years old. They were killed in the crash at approximately 2:45 p.m. at the intersection of U.S. 287 and Mountain Road northwest of Livermore in Larimer County, per the Colorado State Patrol.

"We are heartsick at the news of this terrible tragedy for our university, our state, our student-athlete community and, most importantly, the families and friends of these young people," university president Ed Seidel said, via the school's official website. "Words are insufficient to express our sadness."

The Cowboys swim team is scheduled to compete in the Western Athletic Conference championships starting on Feb. 28 and running through March 2 in Texas.

"My thoughts and prayers are with our swimming and diving student-athletes, coaches, families and friends," said Wyoming athletic director Tom Burman. "It is difficult to lose members of our University of Wyoming family, and we mourn the loss of these student-athletes."

The crash is under investigation, per the school.

Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas has submitted a request to Switzerland's Court of Arbitration for Sport asking for the ban that prohibits transgender swimmers from competing in women's races be lifted, according to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN).

The CAS, which is based in Lausanne, Switzerland, said Friday that is has processed Thomas' request. However, no date for a hearing has been set. Three judges typically hear CAS cases.

"Ms Thomas seeks an order from the CAS declaring that the [World Aquatics rules] are unlawful, invalid, and of no force and effect," the court said.

The ban, which was imposed by World Aquatics in 2022, prevents transgender women who have gone through male puberty from competing in women's races. Other Olympic sports have adopted similar rules, including track and field and cycling.

Supporters of the rule state that transgender women who have gone through male puberty have physical advantages that they "retain long term after transitioning," per the Associated Press.

Thomas argues that the ban is discriminatory and "cannot be justified as necessary, reasonable, or proportionate to achieve a legitimate sporting objective," the court said.

Swimming adopted the ban after Thomas won a college national title in the 500-yard freestyle women's race while competing for the University of Pennsylvania in 2022. It was a historic victory for Thomas, who became the first openly transgender woman to win an NCAA swimming championship.

Despite the ban, Thomas is still hoping to compete in U.S. Olympic trials at some point in the future.

Michael Phelps—the most decorated Olympian of all time—and his wife Nicole announced Monday on Instagram that their family will continue growing as they are expecting their fourth child.

The couple–married in 2016—already have three sons together.

The fourth Phelps baby is expected to arrive in 2024, according to Nicole's post. She also put four blue hearts next to the announcement, possibly signaling that they'll be having another boy.

Phelps retired from swimming following the 2016 Summer Olympics and is regarded as the greatest swimmer of all time and one of the greatest Olympians ever with a record 28 medals.

He has an all-time high of 23 gold medals, gold medals in individual events (13) and Olympic medals in individual events (16).

His reign of dominance lasted for more than a decade and spanned from the 2004 Olympics in Athens to the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Helen Smart, who swam for Great Britain in the 2000 Summer Olympics, died at the age of 42.

"It is with great sadness and regret that I have to announce the sudden death of our beloved Headteacher, Mrs. Helen Smart," an administrator from the Worsley Mesnes Community Primary School in England, where Smart served as the principal, wrote on social media.

Smart, competing under her maiden name of Don-Duncan, made the British Olympic team at age 19 and competed in the 200-meter backstroke at the Sydney Olympics, finishing in 15th place.

Aside from competing in the 2000 Olympics, Smart also won a silver medal in the 200-meter backstroke at the 1999 World Championships and won four straight British championships in the event from 1997 to 2000.

"All our thoughts and condolences are with Helen's family and friends, as well as those in the swimming community who trained, competed and worked with Helen during her time in the sport," British Swimming said in a statement.

Smart retired from competitive swimming after the 2000 Olympics to pursue a career in teaching. Her husband, Craig, released a statement on social media saying Smart was "proud" of her accomplishments in the classroom.

"Thank you for your kind words. She loved the school, staff, children and parents so much. She was so proud to reach her goal of being Head Teacher," Craig Smart said. "She used to say to me all the time she could never see herself at another school. She was Worsley Mesnes through and through!"

Swedish Swimmer Sarah Sjöström surpassed Michael Phelps' career medal tally after taking gold in the 50-meter freestyle at the world championships on Sunday.

The victory, which she captured with a time of 23.62 seconds, sealed her 21st career medal in individual races. This put her ahead of Michael Phelps, who had 20 and was the previous world record holder.

"I'm super happy with that," Sjöström said, per ESPN. "It was very busy yesterday, with the world record and the gold medal."

Sjöström's victory was her second of the weekend as she won the 50-meter butterfly on Saturday, a day when she set the 50-meter freestyle world record in the semifinals. American Swimmer Katie Ledecky also surpassed a Phelps-set record with her 16th individual gold medal after winning the 800-meter freestyle Saturday.

Sjöström's freestyle win was dominating, as she finished nearly a half-second ahead of her competitors. She elected to only race in the 50-meter events at the world championships to lighten the load and was pleased with that decision after the victory.

"But in the end, I'm very, very happy that I actually chose to have a light program," Sjöström said, per David Rieder of Swimming World Magazine. "I realized the circus around the races, that's what's the most exhausting part, actually, not the actual race. It's all the other points we need to do to prepare for the race and afterwards."

The record broken is strictly for individual races and doesn't include relays, as Phelps still holds the record for total medals. His 13 relay medals give him 33 in total, while Sjöström has one relay medal.

Sjöström's medal count includes 12 golds, six silvers and three bronzes. She has five medals each from the 50 fly, 50 freestyle, 100 fly and 100 freestyle and one in the 200 freestyle.

Katie Ledecky won her 16th individual gold medal Saturday, surpassing Michael Phelps for the most in swimming history.

Ledecky claimed the record win with a 8:08.87 finish in the women's 800-meter freestyle at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

She is the first swimmer in history to win six straight world titles in the same event.

Ledecky, who surpassed Phelps' 15 worlds golds with the win, said it was "an honor to even be in that same sentence" as the 23-time Olympic Gold medalist.

Both she and Phelps grew up in Maryland, and Ledecky said earlier this week that she "looked up to him as a little kid."

"I'm going to keep going and hopefully win more medals for Team USA," Ledecky said, per Olympics.com's Shintaro Kano.

Ledecky finished 4.44 seconds ahead of silver medalist Li Bingjie of China and just over four seconds shy of the world record she set in the 800 free at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The event marks Ledecky's second gold of the 2023 worlds. She also won the 1,500-meter freestyle Tuesday in 15:26.27 to tie Phelps' record of 15 individual golds.

Ledecky will have the chance to continue making swimming history during the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Currently a seven-time Olympic gold medalist, Ledecky needs two more golds to tie with four other athletes for second-most in the history of the Games. Phelps holds the record with 23.

Katie Ledecky coasted to victory in the women's 1,500 meters at the World Aquatics Championships on Tuesday, in the process earning her 20th gold medal overall at the world championships.

Ledecky completed the event in 15:26.27, just over 17 seconds better than silver medalist Simona Quadarella.

THAT'S KATIE LEDECKY!@katieledecky is the first person to win five world titles in two different events AND she ties Michael Phelps for the most individual world golds in swimming (15).

And she won this 1500m free world title by 17 seconds. 🤯 #AQUAFukuoka23 pic.twitter.com/y6WeHj99IJ

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 25, 2023

Early on, it looked like Ledecky might set a new world record and best the previous mark (15:20.48) she set in 2018. She had sub-31-second splits through the first 150 meters of the final.

The 26-year-old was unable to maintain that pace, though her first-place position was never in much jeopardy. Her 29.17-second split over the final 50 meters were her second-fastest.

"I'm just really enjoying swimming right now, especially my distance events, I've just been feeling great," she said after her victory, per Olympic Talk. "I feel like I'm getting better each time I swim them. That's what you love to see. You love to see improvement, and that's been my biggest goal over the last couple of years."

Earlier in the world championships, Ledecky added to her total medal haul with a silver in the 400-meter freestyle. She came in 3.35 seconds behind Australia's Ariarne Titmus, whose time of 3:55.38 set a new world record.

Ledecky can potentially go head to head against Titmus in the 800-meter freestyle. They're swimming in separate qualifying heats Thursday.