Swimming in Scandal

There seems to be a scandal developing around women's swimming at Berkeley. Yesterday, there was a lengthy news article dealing with alleged bullying by a coach.* Today there is a report of a walkout by swimmers. See below:

From the Orange County Register: Cal women’s swim team members walked out of a Wednesday morning practice without training after briefly meeting with Golden Bears head coach Teri McKeever, the Southern California News Group has learned.

Cal athletic director Jim Knowlton associate AD Gordon Bayne and Graig Chow, the school’s director of high performance and well-being, have scheduled a meeting with Golden Bears swimmers after Wednesday’s afternoon practice.

The meeting comes a week after Cal was first informed of allegations uncovered in an SCNG investigation into alleged bullying and verbal and mental abuse by McKeever. It also comes amid increasing calls from current and former Cal swimmers and their families and supporters for McKeever’s firing, along with the firings of Knowlton and Jennifer Simon-O’Neill, the athletic department’s senior women’s administrator and a close friend of McKeever’s, for their handling of a series of prior complaints against the coach...

Cal’s response to the report in the 30 hours after it was posted has frustrated, confused and angered current swim team members and their parents. The school declined to address the allegations choosing instead to release a statement mid-day Tuesday. “We are deeply concerned by what our student-athletes have reported,” the statement read. “There is nothing more important to the university than the safety and well-being of our students, and it is that commitment which will guide and inform how we respond to all that has been reported..." ...

Full story at https://www.ocregister.com/2022/05/25/cal-swimmers-walk-out-on-teri-mckeever/amp/.

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*Excerpt: In interviews with SCNG, 19 current and former Cal swimmers, six parents, and a former member of the Golden Bears men’s team portray McKeever as a bully who for decades has allegedly verbally and emotionally abused, swore at and threatened swimmers on an almost daily basis, pressured athletes to compete or train while injured or dealing with chronic illnesses or eating disorders, even accusing some women of lying about their conditions despite being provided medical records by them. The interviews, as well as emails, letters, university documents, recordings of conversations between McKeever and swimmers, and journal entries, reveal an environment where swimmers from Olympians, World Championships participants and All-Americans to non-scholarship athletes are consumed with avoiding McKeever’s alleged wrath. This preoccupation has led to panic attacks, anxiety, sleepless nights, depression, self-doubt, suicidal thoughts and planning, and in some cases self harm...

Full story at https://www.ocregister.com/2022/05/24/cal-swimmers-allege-coach-teri-mckeever-bullied-and-verbally-abused-them-for-years/amp/.