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.
Lars Jorgensen was a creep even during his time at LSU. He allowed and encouraged the male athletes to sexually harass the female athletes. He used sexually explicit names when referring to the female swimmers. I was incredibly thankful that Lars was not allowed to continue at LSU following the 2004 season. It’s sad that others have been impacted by this predator.
If you’re willing to, please reach out to the team of lawyers working this case. Your input can and will be extremely helpful to the victims and everyone involved. [email protected] [email protected]
When one is accused of any crime, the media tends to sensationalize it. There are individuals for whom clandestine motives fan the flame of rumor and inuendo. This appears to be a money grab which casts aside one man’s inalienable right of being cast as innocent until proven guilty.
Naw, she is hateful. Check her Twitter. It goes beyond her “passion” for saving women’s sports.
Unfortunately,Riley could stand for female only events AND be more vocal about sexual abuse of females athletes, a much more prevalent issue than trans athletes effects on female athletes. My concern is when she stands on stage making a ton of money, with politicians that have either been convicted of rape , have audio tapes of how they approach women, have been alleged to have abused underage females. Her lack of focus on this issue makes her voice less effective when speaking on women’s rights
Riley’s focus on protecting women’s sports doesn’t mean she’s obligated to address every issue affecting female athletes. Just because she’s prioritizing the trans athlete debate doesn’t negate the importance of addressing sexual abuse in sports; both issues can be critically important in different ways. The idea that her voice is less valid because she isn’t vocal about every form of abuse dilutes her message. Furthermore, appearing with politicians with questionable histories isn’t unique to her—politics is messy, and both sides use endorsements and allies strategically. Dismissing her advocacy on one issue because she isn’t speaking about everything doesn’t weaken her stance; it only shows that people are looking for reasons to discredit her instead of engaging with the substance of… Read more »
Riley fabricates hypothetical stories about trans athletes sexually assaulting women in locker rooms but ignores real stories about her coach actually sexually assaulting women? And by ignores, I mean gives vocal support to the man accused?
She was vocal about Lars Jorgensen. She was vocal in that she supported him, vocally and publicly.
Yeah no you’re right, she’s not obligated to address every issue in women’s sports. And the issues she chooses to address and the ones she chooses the wrong side of should tell you what you need to know about her.
It does in fact weaken her argument. The real adults in the room are afraid to engage in open discussion on the issue because they know that… Read more »
I’m for female only events but again she is disingenuous at best by selling her voice while standing on stage with a convicted rapist, whose audio tapes and personal history would make a banished priest blush. And that’s not the only politician she stands by on stage that has that history. Again , she has profited mightily over her position and probably has made more money off this than any NCAA champion made off of swimming
I would love for one of you from the “Riley is not anti-trans” crew to tell me what a person would have to say or do to be anti-trans.
Because if you had to define those criteria, I’m almost certain that we could find Riley Gaines quotes (plural) that would fit those criteria.
Yes she is opposed to trans-women in women’s sports. But if you completely ignore that piece of her personality, she is still absolutely anti-trans in every other way as well.
Thank you for bringing up this important point “just a woman” so we could illuminate Riley’s holistic approach to her anti-trans feelings.
If Riley were not anti-trans, she would not intentionally refer to trans-women as “he” and… Read more »
The constant attempt to label someone as ‘anti-trans’ for holding a different opinion is exactly the problem. Opposing trans women in women’s sports isn’t about denying anyone’s existence—it’s about fairness in competition. Disagreeing with ideology or maintaining the belief that biology matters doesn’t make someone hateful. Throwing around terms like ‘anti-trans’ doesn’t strengthen your argument; it’s just an emotional weapon to shut down discussion. If you really believe in dialogue, engage with the points instead of clinging to labels.
Also, it’s hard to support people who are attacking their allies.
It’s a lot harder to tell people buying into fearmongering and conspiracies about trans people that they’re being hysterical when they turn around and see teenage boys betting their daughters at their high school track meets…
When you shut down people who genuinely want to find a solution to how to include trans people in sport expressing that maybe that shouldn’t be happening, well don’t be surprised when your minority radical position gets crushed by bigoted backlash as you actively helped that become the only other voice in the dicussion…
Seriously help us help you. We know there’s evil people actively stirring up that against trans… Read more »
It’s incredible the way you’re able to ignore the quotes I just gave you about Riley Gaines saying that trans people are evil and don’t really exist.
I find it so incredibly interesting. We’ve always had people in this country who single out and oppose the right to exist of other groups of people, it’s just that usually throughout history, they’ve not been so shy about it. It’s a relatively-new phenomenon that someone like Riley Gaines can say “these people shouldn’t exist and are evil” while their followers simultaneously say “Riley has no problem with this group of people.”
Researchers of the future will write tomes studying this phenomenon. It would be an incredible level of manipulation if it weren’t… Read more »
Sometimes it feels like I’m living on an alternate timeline. Like, do people actually not believe that Riley Gaines is anti-trans people?
I’m for having a separate category for trans athletes to compete in because I don’t think it’s fair in most cases for them to compete in women’s sports. But…are we actually here debating that Riley Gaines isn’t anti-trans?
Make it make sense.
Still got that look: https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/b979fc7d-5b05-407d-b802-e4de4c3d0a65
i read the title of the article and thought, “I’m sure he does”
Vote Trump if you want Lars to get pardoned!
I want him pardoned as much as Brock Turner or Rick Curl.
Let me reword that for you. Vote for the convicted f3lon r@pist if you want a r@pist to get pardoned.
Well yeah. I never said I was voting for him
If you want to save Democracy, you’ll vote for this candidate we installed after lying to you about the incumbent’s health to prevent a primary you could have participated in.
Also, the candidate we selected was polling in the single digits when she tried to become President in a fairer primary, so that’s why we had to rig it for her. So get out there and save Democracy!
Funny how I only see Republicans complaining about how unfair and un-Democratic it is that Kamala is the nominee. You would think Democrats would be the ones complaining if they didn’t want her to be the party’s nominee.
Imagine thinking either party was there to help you and arguing with strangers on the internet about it
It’s not surprising that Republicans are more vocal about Kamala potentially being the nominee—after all, they’re focused on competing against her and see it as a key weakness to exploit. On the Democratic side, many might not be thrilled about her as the nominee, but political loyalty and strategy play a big role in staying united, especially in public discourse. Democrats also tend to avoid openly criticizing their own candidates until it’s absolutely necessary, preferring to present a united front rather than giving the opposition more ammunition. Just because you don’t hear loud complaints doesn’t mean there isn’t hesitation or concern among Democrats—it’s more a matter of what gets expressed publicly.
I love when ignorance enters the chat.
Culture wars are so you don’t fight the class war
Nevertheless – dude Kim Jong Un isn’t going on North Korea TV talking about nuking typhoons something is really not right with the opposition…
Sir this is a swimming website
Then keep it that way. Read the comments from BR32 etc. they moved this away from a swim conversation.