SwimSwam has received more information on what happened in the lead-up to former head coach Eric Hansen’s initial leave of absence from the University of Arizona.
Upon returning to Tucson from the men’s team’s dual meet loss to the University of Utah late Saturday, the men’s swim team was ordered to report to the pool for a practice.
Update to the above: there have been several conflicting stories about the practice mentioned above and what time it happened, though all parties agree that there was a practice sometime late after the team arrived back to campus on October 19th.
On October 20th, police and emergency personnel were called to Hansen’s residence in Tucson, where Hansen resided with a male roommate, the deputy responding to the case told SwimSwam today. This call did not involve any physical altercations, according to the responding deputy. Due to the personal nature of the matter, we believe that it is beyond ethical journalistic guidelines to report further details on this call, specifically.
No arrests were made after that call, and SwimSwam was unable to locate any other indication of further or prior legal incidents, calls, or complaints involving Hansen.
Hansen’s leave was formally announced by Athletic Director Greg Byrne on October 22nd.
The university has declined repeatedly to comment about the reason for Hansen’s initial leave of absence, and we continue to be unable to reach Hansen directly. Therefore, we cannot verify that any of the above is related to his resignation or leave of absence, rather the information is presented as what happened between the team’s return to Tucson and the announcement that he had taken a leave of absence.
The intent of sharing this information is to address many of the rumors that we have heard circulating about possible incidents that may have happened between the team’s return from Utah and Hansen’s leave of absence that would have likely included further investigation or reports from Pima County Police. At the same time, we cannot guarantee that no complaints have been made or crimes committed, we can only say definitively that after a thorough search, we found no crimes, allegations of crimes, or any other police reports that were filed.
When my daughter was swimming under Erik Hanson at Wisconsin he verbally ,emotionally and physically abused her. When they were training in Hawaii he got angry with her and strangled her. Because this was the year of the Olympics my daughter was pressured to not insist on his termination. All of his actions were reported and is documented at the univ of Wisconsin.Erik agreed to get anger management at the time but I have no idea if he ever did. To this day my daughter suffers from post traumatic syndrome because of Erik’s abuse…….there were rumors at us that he had a relationship with a male swimmer but rumors are rumors. What happened with my daughter is documented and factual.
I can also attest to Hansen’s abuse. I swam for Hansen at UW and also received similar abuse and witnessed many questionable acts. His assistants were fully supportive of his behavior. I never reported his actions to any official at UW. While I think his intentions are pure, I think it’s best that he finds peace in his next chapter.
Jan would you contact me to discuss details about this comment? It is important. Thank you
You can call me and I will be happy to provide more details regarding Jan Mullinax’s statement. 903-559-0037
So the coach of this university ordered NCAA violating practices immediately upon returning to Tucson? Is that what swimswam is reporting? That is seriously troubling. And a cautionary message as to the mentality of this coach leading up to his departure from this program. And all the imploding days leading up to this last day.
If you are openly violating NCAA coaching rules – you are OPENLY violating NCAA coaching rules. Clear as day as to what “happened” to the swim team. He should have been fired – not allowed to take a leave of absence and resign. This premiere Division One Swim Program did not deserve to be mistreated like this by Eric Hansen. What a way to… Read more »
Maybe Augie can come in and follow his Dad’s footsteps here.
The ” real story” behind the published reports so far is how a whole lotta college swimmers, coaches, administrators, parents/spouses/siblings, etc. etc. close to the situation have been able to keep what really has been going on down there the last several moments so absolutely quiet.
As for DeMont, outstanding coach who has already had a LOT of opportunity to take on an elite head coaching position and chosen not to. A man who appears to have his priorities in life very clear, I’d be shocked if he took the job.
Either the UofA team had 2am and 7am practice after the Utah meet or they didn’t.
Someone needs to confirm this. It’s not that difficult or is it?
If you take the time to read the article and the comments, it is clear that there is no definitive answer. Some swimmers have claimed that there was a 2 am and 7am practice, and many other swimmers have denied that. Since I am sure that almost all of these people commenting were not there at the potentially non-existent practice, there is no way for us to confirm or deny, and we should probably stop asking the exact same question every fifth comment.
Yes there is a definitive answer and it’s a very simple yes or no.
No one somehow connected to the team seems to have the intestinal fortitude to give an honest answer or they have agreed to keep it quiet.
Maybe a parent or a friend of a team member could chime in under a fake name or something.
It’s not that difficult. All this speculating and second guessing is counterproductive.
Any new info here?
I think that clearly the leave of absence and the ensuing resignation is not a result of the 2 AM and 7 AM practices alone. There are personal problems that Coach Hansen has that affected his coaching performance and his life in general. In due time, I am sure details will come out. But let’s not forget that Coach Hansen is a fallible human being, like the rest of us. He may have made mistakes, and as a result his career appears to be in shambles. Everyone of a certain age has had to go through rough times in their work, marriage, etc. I feel his pain and I hope he can recover in due time.
I must be missing something here. Why is it our business who is room mate is? A lot of people have same sex roommates and that is all they are ROOM MATES.
Why does anyone need to insinuate anything. I think the real issue here is the 2am practice and then another at 5am. Athletes always try to do their best, and they work very hard, and give up a lot of things to be the best they can be in their sport. These athletes are going to school full time and when they have earned the privilege of making the travel team, they also get behind in their classwork. There are only so many hours in day and… Read more »