Former University of Kentucky head swim coach Lars Jorgensen on Friday has denied allegations of a pattern of sexual abuse under his watch at Kentucky and asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit filed against him.
While Jorgensen’s attorney has long rejected the claims against him, on Friday Jorgensen formally denied the allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault in court. Those allegations were made public in April when two former Kentucky swimmers and assistant coaches sued him, the University of Kentucky, Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart, and former Kentucky head coach Gary Conelly, who hired Jorgensen as his assistant in 2012 before retiring.
Jorgensen’s lawyer at the time of the suit’s filing, Greg Anderson, called the allegations “defamatory,” blaming them on the “NCAA woke philosophy and his support of his swimmer, (Riley) Gaines.”
Gaines became famous after tying with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas for 5th place in the 200 free at the 2022 NCAA Championships and launching a nationwide anti-trans campaign that included touring and speaking engagements opposing the inclusion of trans women in women’s sports and referring to trans identities as “evil.”
Anderson is no longer listed as Jorgensen’s representation.
Jorgensen, meanwhile, has said that the relationships with his two former assistants were consensual dating relationships, which lawyers for the plaintiffs dispute, citing a “toxic, sexually hostile environment.”
Two weeks ago, the University of Kentucky filed a motion to dismiss four counts of a lawsuit accusing the school of negligence that enabled former swim coach Lars Jorgensen to sexually assault two former assistants.
Attorneys for UK argued that the university has sovereign immunity as a state institution, the same doctrine that prevents people from suing the U.S. government in many situations. UK also claimed it should avoid culpability for “vicarious liability” related to Jorgensen’s actions because they did not fall within the scope of his employment.
In UK’s most recent response, attorneys claim the university acted in good faith, without wrongful intent, and within its authority once complaints were brought. Last week, when the Wildcats were hit with two years of probation for Level II training violations under Jorgensen, UK president Eli Capilouto said the “most serious of the allegations” only became known when the lawsuit was filed.
The 53-year-old Jorgensen resigned last summer amid an investigation after a decade in Lexington, receiving a $75,000 settlement and foregoing the rest of the $402,500 left on his contract through the 2024-25 season. He appeared in SafeSport’s disciplinary database in November for unspecified allegations of misconduct.
In 2014, a former Toledo softball coach accused Jorgensen of having a long-term romance with a swimmer, eventually hiring the swimmer as an assistant coach, and ultimately promoting her to head coach. That accusation was made 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. Conelly told The Athletic that he looked into that situation and said Jorgensen only started dating her after she stopped swimming.
“This is not an uncommon occurrence that there is a relationship between a coach and an ex-swimmer,” said Conelly, who also filed a separate motion to dismiss his involvement in the case because he left Kentucky months after Jorgensen was hired.
Prior to becoming a coach, Jorgensen represented the United States at the 1988 Summer Olympics in South Korea as an athlete.f
Riley Overend contributed to this report.
Vote Trump if you want Lars to get pardoned!
I want him pardoned as much as Brock Turner or Rick Curl.
Reading this made me wonder what is Jeremy Kipp doing these days, he seems to be selling industrial real estate….
Industrial real estate is super hot now thanks to Amazon and the like.
You can run, but you can’t hide! Nice try Lars.