Kentucky Hit With 2 Years of Probation for Level II Training Violations Under Lars Jorgensen

The University of Kentucky men’s and women’s swimming and diving program was dealt two years of probation by the NCAA on Friday for failing to give mandatory days off and exceeding maximum practice hours for nearly three years under former head coach Lars Jorgensen.

Jorgensen, 53, resigned last summer and is now facing a lawsuit for allegedly sexual abusing multiple ex-swimmers who became assistant coaches. The NCAA said he “did not participate in the agreement,” and that his portion of the case will be handled separately by the Committee on Infractions.

Kentucky president Eli Capilouto addressed the allegations against Jorgensen for the first time on Friday, calling them “deeply distressing.” Jorgensen is accused of preying on, sexually harassing, and committing violent sexual assaults against young female coaches and collegiate athletes who relied on him.

“The most serious of the allegations were only known to us at the time a lawsuit was filed by two former staff members and after the coach had been dismissed,” Capilouto said. “(Athletic director) Mitch (Barnhart) and I are sickened by allegations that members of the UK community suffered harm because of the actions of someone entrusted to protect and empower our student athletes and staff. We will not tolerate abuse, and neither should anyone who is a member of our community.”

Current athletic director Mitch Barnhart and former Kentucky swim coach Gary Conelly were also named as defendants in April’s lawsuit along with Jorgensen and the university for their “deliberate indifference.”

Before Jorgensen arrived at Kentucky in 2013, he coached at the University of Toledo from 2004-10. In 2014, a former Toledo softball coach accused Jorgensen of having a long-term romance with a swimmer, hiring her as an assistant coach, and ultimately promoting her to head coach in a Title IX lawsuit where he was one of three examples of male head coaches and administrators who “committed much more egregious offenses” without being fired.

“For over a couple decades, we have worked really hard to make sure that our compliance and our integrity was at the highest level. In this case, our processes worked,” Barnhart said in a statement on Friday. “Our compliance office uncovered both of these violations and worked through, over the last three years, trying to find a way through to solution, to resolution, which we have now received. We are thankful that the process has come to a close and we’re ready to move forward. This has been a long process, but I’m thankful for the people in our department that have worked hard to bring it to a conclusion.”

Jorgensen has denied the allegations, with his lawyer even blaming the rape allegations on “NCAA woke philosophy” and his support of anti-trans advocate Riley Gaines.

Former Princeton head coach Bret Lundgaard was hired as Jorgensen’s replacement in July. Now if his squad violates other NCAA legislation over the next two years, the Wildcats’ probation could be extend and additional sanctions applied.

Kentucky’s football team was also revealed to have committed Level II violations at the same time as the swim program, though the cases are separate. Eleven Wildcat football players were paid for work not performed at the UK hospital between spring 2021 and March 2022, forcing the team to vacate 10 wins from the 2021 season — including its Citrus Bowl victory over Iowa. Kentucky’s football team also received two years of probation as its punishment.