Swimming in Scandal - Part 4

UC Berkeley Athletic Director: Teri McKeever investigation could take 6 months

Orange County Register, Scott M. Reid, 6-1-22

A University of California Berkeley investigation into allegations that Golden Bears head women’s swim coach Teri McKeever routinely bullied and verbally abused swimmers for decades could take up to six months, Cal athletic director Jim Knowlton told the team’s parents during a video call Tuesday night that often became heated. While Knowlton acknowledged that some of McKeever’s alleged bullying took place on his watch, parents both during the meeting and in interviews on Wednesday expressed frustration and anger over what they characterized as Knowlton and Cal’s failed response to the allegations, the lack of a plan for current team members moving forward and the university’s commitment to investigating other coaches or officials who ignored reports or enabled McKeever’s misconduct.

“The general take away from the meeting is the lack of urgency on something that should have been taken care of a long time ago,” the parent of a current Cal swimmer said. McKeever was placed on paid administrative leave by the university last Wednesday. Cal’s response, said a parent of a current Cal swimmer, “seems inconsistent with truly taking the steps that lead to getting to the truth, resolving this issue and moving on as quickly as possible.

“The pace and speed doesn’t bring a lot of confidence to the parent group that (Cal) is willing to do a true investigation and get to the truth.” Another parent said the video call “seemed thrown together with no agenda. I really felt like it was put out there to gauge us.” The external investigation by a Los Angeles-based law firm and commissioned by the university is in response to a Southern California News Group investigation that revealed that McKeever, the most famous and successful female swim coach in the sport’s history, allegedly bullied, verbally and emotionally abused, swore at and threatened dozens of swimmers on an almost daily basis for nearly a quarter-century.

“We have an institutional interest in finding out the truth,” said Dan Mogulof, Cal’s vice chancellor for public affairs. Launching such an investigation, Mogulof continued, is essential to the university ensuring “that the people who work for us are abiding by our policies and values. “The university can only be harmed by an investigation that fails to reveal the truth in a timely manner.” Cal at the same time must follow university, state and federal privacy laws and policies, he said. Mogulof added, “Inherent to any investigation is a certain degree of uncertainty. We have no idea what will be discovered.” The university, Mogulof said, understands that uncertainty “makes it difficult for those whose lives and plans will be impacted by the investigation.”

...The parents also expressed frustration that Cal officials have not addressed the concerns of the current team members, leaving the swimmers and their families in limbo and facing a number of questions: What if McKeever is reinstated, is the NCAA transfer portal still an option? Who will train them for events such as the U.S. Championships in Irvine (Aug. 2-6)? ...

Full story at https://www.ocregister.com/2022/06/01/uc-berkeley-ad-teri-mckeever-investigation-could-take-6-months.