Former Cal swimmers had mixed reactions to former head coach Teri McKeever‘s three-month suspension by the U.S. Center for SafeSport on Thursday.
“Teri is an amazing coach and person,” said Anya (Kolbisen) Hall, who competed for the Bears from 1996-2000 and won an NCAA title in the 200-meter freestyle relay as a senior. “A handful of snowflake generation athletes have destroyed her reputation.”
Cindy Tran, who won six NCAA titles for Cal from 2010-14, called the punishment “a slap in the face.”
“It’s just strange to think that a year from now she can be back on a (pool) deck coaching and who knows with what intention,” Tran told the OC Register. “It just seems like they wanted to be done with it. She can be back in a year after 20-plus years, 30 years of her coaching and behaving the way she has.”
McKeever admitted to engaging in “behavior that constitutes emotional conduct” between 2000 and 2022 as part of her informal SafeSport resolution, according to the OC Register. She acknowledged screaming profanities close to athletes’ faces, encouraging athletes to train through injuries, grabbing NCAA champion Emily Gantriis by the arm last February, humiliating athletes in the presence of the team, and causing them severe emotional distress. McKeever also said she yelled and cursed at a swimmer suffering from a hip injury, referring to her as a “waste of space.”
Nine Cal women’s swimmers, including six since 2018, told the Southern California News Group that they made plans to kill themselves due to McKeever’s bullying.
“I didn’t see anything explicitly where she says, ‘I own up to my mistakes and I was wrong,’” Tran said. “So it didn’t really feel like anything.”
SafeSport noted that it was unable to make rulings on dozens of allegations from before 2017, when the Center’s code was created.
“In considering the totality of the circumstances surrounding the allegations that occurred between 2000 and 2016, and available policy during that time frame, the Center was unable to identify applicable policy,” SafeSport said.
McKeever, 61, served as the Cal women’s head coach from 1993-2022. She led the program to four NCAA titles and six Pac-12 titles while also working on three U.S. Olympic staffs. That included being named the head coach of the women’s team for the 2012 Games in London, making her the first and only female head coach of the U.S. Olympic swimming team.
Very moving and inspiring words from the great Dave Salo. Why don’t people take the time to educate themselves on what it is they’re talking about before they add their two cents worth of advice. My daughter has epilepsy and that horrible ex Cal coach called her a liar regarding her disability. I’m really tired of people trying to defend adults that don’t have a clue about what took place on the deck. Hear that Anya Hall! Go crawl back under the rock from which you slithered fro.
Hi Scott~That certainly isn’t the way it went from Teri’s perspective. She feels that she was looking for solutions, while you were behaving in a threatening and aggressive manner. You and I both know there are two sides to every story. Irregardless, I’m so glad that Danielle transferred to UCSB and found a program that better fit her physical and emotional health. The bottom line here is if you didn’t like the intensity of McKeever’s coaching style then enter the transfer portal and go elsewhere. Nobody is forced to stay, and it certainly isn’t one size fits all. I do not live “under a rock” lol, I’m well aware of the many sides to this saga…in fact one of the… Read more »
We can do with better humans than Teri. I also know first hand what Teri did with her swimmers. And you stood there and watched. Sad!
I join my daughter Anya in sending kudos to Teri Makeover. Anya is a woman who takes everything to heart and Teri brought out the best in Anya. Coaching is a very fine art of how to bring out the absolute best in each swimmer, in all ways. . Teri did that.
Except that Anya stood there and watched Teri bully her teammates.
Athletes that decide to be recruited and attend major DI programs need to stop telling coaches what they think they want to hear. “I want to go to the Olympics.” “I want to win a NCAA Championship.” and then be surprised that they are held accountable to the standard the athlete has established. And then athletes need to quit complaining when the athletes that make all the right decisions as unfair when the results aren’t the same. There is no equity in sport. The only equity is the opportunity afforded each athlete.
I’m not sure how “I want to win an NCAA Championship” translates to “I’d like to train through illness and injury, be outed to my teammates, and called a ‘waste of space’.”
Coaches like you and Teri just don’t get that one of the reasons why coaching is change is that the athletes change and coaches need to follow that change. Plenty of coaches understand that and get results without being abusive. Hope you (and Teri) enjoy your remaining years.
I understand why people like Dave and Teri find change difficult. We, as a species, have too much confidence in our own experiences, and those two both had success doing it the way they did.
Those two will also probably ignore the waning of that success toward the end of their careers.
This is why the transfer portal exists – to make it easier for athletes who don’t want to deal with these sorts of things anymore to find another experience. Both Teri and Dave had most of their success in an era where transferring was a nightmare and where, further, they could limit their athletes’ choices to transfer, and those athletes might have to sit out a year in… Read more »
Dave talks about athletes “telling coaches what they think they want to hear” during the recruiting process, but this definitely goes both ways, with coaches telling athletes what they want to hear.
I only swam D1 mid-major (Ivy League), which is very different from Cal or USC. However, during the recruiting process, the coaches all claimed to have “balanced programs” emphasizing both athletics and academics, that academics come first, etc. This didn’t really turn out to be the case, in my experience. The swimming program offered very little flexibility, and neither did the professors in my major. I think this is why you see such high attrition in Ivy League swimming. I don’t think people go in thinking that… Read more »
Maybe Cindy Tran would like to share with the SwimSwam public what Teri did that was so egregious?
“McKeever forced her to come out when she found out she was dating a teammate in 2014. “I was the first person in the program’s history to openly come out,” Tran said. “We came out against our will.” ”
https://www.si.com/college/2022/05/25/cal-swimmers-accuse-coach-of-verbal-abuse-bullying-per-report
Seems like that should answer Dave’s question, but knowing him, it’s just going to enrage him further.
I am not enraged. I just honesty should rule the day. I just want to know if this is the same Cindy Tran who gave Teri McKeever a piece of art she created and Teri displayed it prominently at the entryway of her home.
And no one was shocked when she came out, and frankly no one cared. Would love to hear Teri’s side of the story of the incident that forced Cindy to come out.
And yes is the real Dave Salo. I tend to put my real name to my comments. Wish others would do the same.
Bravo Dave for signing your real name!
Is this the real Dave Salon? Yikes
Dave, please read the investigation. You will change your mind about Teri. It’s disgusting.
Swim coaches need mental health education. Received an ultimatum as a college swimmer instead of minimal sympathy. Zero support from the team. It takes yourself to make a change!
SafeSport fails yet again. What a friggin’ joke!
Coaches have a unique opportunity to help athletes grow both in and out of the pool. Protecting the mind in a sport as difficult as swimming is as equally as important as protecting the physical health of the athlete with proper training. Sports like swimming can teach the athlete the important life lessons like teamwork, perseverance, etc. So called “coaches” like this have lost what is truly important about coaching/teaching and should NEVER be given the opportunity to coach again.
Who would hire her anyway? At best she’ll start a team and coach a few people that choose to be with her. So be it.