Lars Jorgensen has re-entered the U.S. Center for SafeSport Disciplinary Database in the wake of a lawsuit filed against the former University of Kentucky coach last month.
Jorgensen, 53, has been given a temporary suspension by SafeSport for allegations of misconduct on April 22 with a “no contact directive(s)”.
He is registered under both USA Swimming and the U.S. Tennis Association.
On Friday, April 12, a lawsuit was filed alleging the University of Kentucky was complicit in allowing Jorgensen “to foster a toxic, sexually hostile environment within the swim program and 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 lawsuit came in the wake of Jorgensen resigning from his post as head coach of the Wildcats’ swim & dive program last summer amid a reported investigation for NCAA compliance violations. He received a $75,000 settlement and foregoed the rest of the $402,500 left on his contract through the 2024-25 season.
This past November, five months after his resignation, Jorgensen was entered into the SafeSport Datatabse with allegations of misconduct and temporary restrictions including “no unsupervised coaching/training, contact/communication limitation(s),” and “no contact directive(s).”
That entry into the database was removed before he was re-added last month.
Jorgensen and his lawyer have denied the allegations, which include two of his former swimmers turned assistant coaches alleging that he groomed and eventually raped them.
Jorgensen claims that the relationships he had with the two coaches, one of which is Briggs Alexander, were consensual.
That contradicts what Alexander and the unnamed coach referred to as Jane Doe claim in the lawsuit, calling Jorgensen “a serial sexual predator.“
Thank God my kid chose to swim elsewhere. Has no one learned from the MSU Gymnastics-Nasser travesty? I hope all of his victims get justice.
Given the number of articles on a weekly basis about coaches getting busted for something related to things like this, I would say the answer to that question is “no”
As he should have been a year ago.
Yeah why so late
Just asking: has Lars been convicted of a crime?
Not yet; fwiw there is precedent for Safesport suspensions/bans even when criminal charges are dropped.
The USTA? Huh? Anyone know what that’s about?
I understand he plays tennis.
Lars should’ve been fired for cause and received no settlement. But I guess the school decided to give Lars $75,000 to agree to resign and not sue Kentucky over his departure.
When you want to be rid of someone like that, I’m guessing $75,000 seems like a bargain to pay vs going through a long, drawn out battle. That obviously isn’t the end of the story and there will be much more to pay to victims before it’s done. It definitely sucks when someone commits atrocities like that and walks away with even a $1. But I feel like this story could have been much worse than a $75,000 buyout. It feels like you never see someone get fired for cause and have them walk away with nothing.