The Notre Dame men’s swimming program has been suspended for a minimum of one academic year after an investigation into potential gambling. The men’s swimming and diving programs are coming off their best combined finish at NCAAs in school history as they were 10th at the 2024 NCAA Championships.
Just after U.S. Olympic Trials in June, the school announced that the law firm, Ropes & Gray LLP to conduct an external review after “potential issues with the culture” of the team. Sources have told SwimSwam that the investigation has been ongoing at least since January and authorities were allegedly monitoring activity during US Olympic Trials.
The review found that gambling was an occurrence for most of the team members that were set to return for this upcoming season. Swimmers place “over/under” lines on swims at meets. One former member of the team says they even took wagers on “how many women would cry after their races.” In addition to betting on swimming, some of the athletes participated in betting on other sports such as the NCAA March Madness tournaments.
The school issued a statement today from athletic director Pete Bevacqu. “The external review confirmed and expanded on our initial concerns about a deeply embedded team culture dismissive of Notre Dame’s standards for student-athletes, including our expectation that they treat one another with dignity and respect,” said Bevacqu.
“This independent, external review also documented numerous violations of NCAA rules prohibiting gambling on intercollegiate swimming and other athletic competitions despite clear and recurrent training provided to all our student-athletes by our Athletics Compliance staff about those rules. These findings are contrary to the University’s values and all that we stand for in Notre Dame Athletics. In order to ensure that this behavior ends and to rebuild a culture of dignity, respect, and exemplary conduct, we have decided to suspend the men’s swimming program for at least one academic year.”
“While individual conduct varied, the overwhelming cultural dynamic on the team necessitates a full suspension. We profoundly regret that the small number of team members who did not participate in the conduct, and those who were planning on joining the team this fall, will also suffer the consequences of this decision”
“The coaching staff participated in and fully cooperated with all aspects of the external review. The review found that the staff was not aware of gambling or the scope and extent of other troubling behaviors because team members effectively concealed such behaviors from the coaches and staff through concerted efforts. According to the review, when the staff became aware of certain isolated incidents of unacceptable conduct, they treated them seriously and professionally. We appreciate the continued service of the staff to our women’s swimming and diving programs and our men’s diving program during these difficult times.”
The program just finished its 2nd season under head coach Chris Lindauer. The men’s team had a historic 18th place finish at NCAAs in Lindauer’s first season before surpassing that finish this past March as they were 10th. The team also was 2nd at the 2024 ACC Championships, also a program-high finish.
130 out of the 132 points from the team at 2024 NCAAs came from swimming. Daniel Knapp was the only diver to score, with two points coming from a 15th place finish in the 1 meter event.
In addition to success at the NCAA level, the team also sent rising senior Chris Guiliano to represent the US at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Guiliano earned one gold and one silver as a member of the US men’s freestyle relays. According to Sports Illustrated, Guiliano is not thought to be one of the swimmers wagering on his own team. Lindauer was named an assistant coach for the US in Paris as well.
According to NCAA rule 10.3, sports-wagering is prohibited for student-athletes. “The following individuals shall not knowingly participate in sports wagering activities or provide information to individuals involved in or associated with any type of sports wagering activities concerning intercollegiate, amateur or professional athletics competition. (a) Staff members of an institution’s athletics department; (b) Nonathletics department staff members who have responsibilities within or over the athletics department (e.g., chancellor or president, faculty athletics representative, individual to whom athletics reports); (c) Staff members of a conference office; and (d) Student-athletes.”
The NCAA updated its guidelines on sports wagering and betting guidelines in June 2023. The updates show more severe consequences when betting on their own games and sports compared to betting on other athletic events such as professional ones. Those updates include:
- “Student-athletes who engage in activities to influence the outcomes of their own games or knowingly provide information to individuals involved in sports betting activities will potentially face permanent loss of collegiate eligibility in all sports. This would also apply to student-athletes who wager on their own games or on other sports at their own schools.”
- “If a student-athlete wagers on their own sport at another school, education on sports wagering rules and prevention will be required as a condition of reinstatement, and the loss of 50% of one season of eligibility will be considered.”
- “For all other wagering-related violations (e.g., wagering on professional sports), cumulative dollar value of the wagers will be taken into consideration with the following terms for reinstatement:
- $200 or less: sports wagering rules and prevention education.
- $201-$500: loss of 10% of a season of eligibility, plus rules and prevention education.
- $501-$800: loss of 20% of a season of eligibility, plus rules and prevention education.
- Greater than $800: loss of 30% of a season of eligibility, plus rules and prevention education.”
“For cumulative wagering activities that greatly exceed $800, NCAA reinstatement staff are directed to consider whether additional loss of eligibility, including permanent ineligibility, are appropriate.”
This is a joke. This is step 1 to eliminating S&D with the oncoming fallout from House case. Put the hammer down on the swim team when we know what would have happened if they were football players. It was punishment out of convenience.
Notre Dame doesn’t cut teams.
You wanna see what it looks like when a school systematically cuts a team? Look at what BC did with theirs. They suspended the men’s team and built a new pool that didn’t have a high enough ceiling for 3M diving.
Or GW; they wanted to fill in their pool and make it a practice court for hoops.
They cut field hockey in 1987 and wrestling in 1992.
But you’re right that they haven’t cut any teams recently.
No major FBS college has had to deal with what’s coming yet so I’d say all bets are off the table and precedent doesn’t mean much anymore. I sure hope you’re right though, and not my pessimistic self.
They will cut this one next year.
What if they used Per Diem money to bet…
Notre Dame will drop this team when they increase the football scholarships. Guaranteed.
Yes, because Notre Dame doesn’t already spend the maximum amount possible on football.
if football did the same there would be internal issues (suspensions of individuals) but never ever the full program
This is a very calculated play by an institution that is looking ahead and seeing the need to cut men’s programs. Notre Dame athletic plans at least 5 years ahead. If you look at the landscape of college sports and its impact on men’s teams that do not generate revenue you can connect the dots here.
They won’t touch lax, fencing, basketball or football. That leaves swimming and maybe tennis???
Of course wrongdoers should be sanctioned. Of course the NCAA has rules that need to be followed.
But there is way more here than meets the eye.
How many plagiarism and other scandals has the football team endured and never been give the death penalty. … Read more »
I really hope your wrong….a calculated move to drop the swim program is just terrible….
Think Western Kentucky
No, don’t think WKU. Notre Dame has millions and millions of dollars more in available finances than WKU. They get revenue from the ACC, from the FBS as an independent football program not having to share it with other conference teams AND have their own television deal with NBC where again they keep all the money. WKUs decision was partially motivated by the desire to reallocate funds as well as the fact they were in a conference that only had a few members sponsoring swimming & diving. Notre Dame has no money issues and is in the ACC where 13 other teams sponsor men’s swimming. The only reason ND drops swimming is likely if the House settlement and other ongoing… Read more »
OK. I thought about Western Kentucky.
Western Kentucky isn’t Notre Dame.
They might drop the program because of this, but that’s got nothing to do with money. Notre Dame could field a second football team with the amount of money they have.
I hope I am wrong too! Wishing the best for all the young people. We all make mistakes and the job of the university per ND’s mission is to act “in loco parentis” Part of that is teaching the kids and they are kids, to do better. It’s easy to offer a death sentence and delete the program. It would have been harder to keep those who were innocent and grow a new class of freshmen – who did nothing to deserve this – in the spirit of following the rules, respecting their female counterparts and dedicating themselves to the compassion and forgiveness that ND says is at their heart.
I understand they are a team and they all… Read more »
You are 100% on point. This suspension will become indefinite and the program will be eventually officially folded. A shame.
Yes. They’ll keep fencing and cut swimming to save money.
I wish we knew more details, including the amounts involved in the betting.
I feel like a lot of college swimmers can recall times when they traveled to an away meet, sat in the stands watching the opposite sex meet, and participated in games like “swim meet Bingo” (it wouldn’t have been our best moment, but I could imagine “swimmer crying after race” being a square) or “fantasy swim meet.” We never bet money on this, but I could see that happening. It would still be a far cry from throwing NCAA tournament basketball games to win vast sums in Vegas.
“bets/wagers” were on teammates to beat times, not to beat opponents and not to influence the outcome of the ‘game’ or meet. $ amounts <$20 and only a few times at inconsequential meets. The other betting included fantasy football, march madness and squares game for Super Bowl. Come on
Well, that’s not gonna be all.
Who takes bets on swimming? My local casino doesn’t. Who provided them money to cover this? When all the charges are filed, this is probably going to involve some serious federal shit.
Most of the major sportsbooks took bets on the Olympic Trials and Olympic Games. I’ve never seen lines on college meets.
But it sounds like they essentially kept their own book. The swimmers so far have downplayed this, make it sound like just small bets on fun stuff. The administration is making it sound like a full-blown sportsbook operation.
If it’s closer to the former than the latter, then the feds probably will decide it’s not worth their time.
The report said the team “managed their own book,” which could literally mean one dude on the team has a spreadsheet, and sends a WhatsApp message asking whether people think Joey will break 1:40 in the 200 free on Saturday. Some people bet in favor of Joey, some bet against. When Joey has a great meet, the people who bet for him earn $5 each (taken from the people who bet against him)
If this kind of low-stakes thing combined with something like fantasy football or a March madness pool (which I feel like every 18-22 yo guy in the US does) is really what happened, the punishment handed down by Notre Dame (not the NCAA) is wild, and really… Read more »
Pump and dump and pyramid schemes?✅
Some kids gambling on their sport with so much commerical interest that pros make below minimum wage? ❌
🇺🇸🇺🇲🗽🦅🦅
Putting aside the “betting on crying” for a moment, wagering on outcomes does effect outcomes. Even if you bet on yourself to win. Hypothetically, if you are doing the 400 medley relay and the 200 IM 15 minutes later, and you bet on yourself to win the 200 IM, it is not impossible to imagine that you might hold back in the relay to ensure success in the IM. Integrity is indivisible and absolute. And when it comes to NCAA sports, the integrity of all sports matters equally.
But I really hope that this wasn’t a case where the primary motivation was to make an example. And I do wonder if the toxic nature of the “betting on crying” tilted… Read more »
Personally I did this and so did plenty of my teammates. None of us would have admitted it at the time but you could always tell who was trying to save up for their event they needed to try to win later on in a dual meet. Can’t imagine money being involved would change too much.