UK suit involves a former UT coach

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Two former members of the Kentucky swimming and diving team have filed a suit in U.S. District Court.

The suit, which names former coach Lars Jorgensen, former coach Gary Conelly, athletics director Mitch Barnhart and the university itself, alleges there was a “toxic, sexually hostile environment” within the swim program during Jorgensen’s tenure. The suit further claims the university allowed Jorgensen “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.”

The Athletic detailed allegations of misconduct against Jorgensen, who resigned last year after a 10-season tenure with the program.

Jorgensen has ties to Tennessee as a former swimmer and coach.

He served as an assistant (2010-11) and interim head coach (2011-12) for the Vols.

Jorgensen arrived at Tennessee in 1993 as a transfer student from Southern Cal and a member of the U.S. team at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. In his only season at Tennessee, Jorgenson set the school record in the 1,000 freestyle and it stood until 2015. He was the program record holder until 2009 in the 1,650 free.

None of the allegations make reference to Jorgensen’s time at Tennessee.

According to The Athletic, Kentucky “was made aware or should have been aware of an allegation of misconduct by Jorgensen” at least three times between 2012 (when he was with the program as an assistant) and 2019:

In 2012, former Toledo swimming assistant coach Mark Howard sent emails to Conelly, then Kentucky coach, as well as to Barnhart. In both emails,

Howard shared that a former female swimmer said she was involved in a sexual relationship with Jorgensen at Toledo. Jorgensen was Toledo’s coach from 2004-10.

In 2014, another Toledo coach, this time one from the softball program, filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the university. In her suit, she brought up the allegation about Jorgensen’s relationship with a former swimmer at the school.

And in 2019, two swim coaches at San Jose State reported allegations to the Title IX officer at their school centered on rumors they had heard about potential misconduct by Jorgensen at Kentucky, where he had been named coach in 2013 following Conelly’s retirement. According to The Athletic, after the San Jose State officer contacted Kentucky, the UK office that handles Title IX complaints filed a report and marked it “not urgent.” Jorgensen denied any misconduct, while the swim staffer he allegedly sexually assaulted refused to speak to a UK official assigned to the complaint. The case was then considered “closed” after a week.

Per The Athletic’s story, there are numerous allegations against Jorgensen during his time in Lexington. Two former swimmers accused him of rape.

When reached for comment by The Courier Journal on Saturday, UK spokesperson Jay Blanton released a statement on behalf of the university.

“Mr. Jorgensen is no longer an employee of the University of Kentucky. We do not, as a matter of policy, discuss specific personnel issues,” Blanton said.

Jorgensen’s resignation last year came while he was away from the program amid an investigation into possible NCAA compliance violations.

Jorgensen led Kentucky women to its first SEC title in 2021.