Notre Dame suspends men’s swimming team over gambling violations, troubling misconduct

Notre Dame suspends men’s swimming team over gambling violations, troubling misconduct Notre Dame has suspended its men’s swimming team for at least one academic year after an investigation revealed “numerous violations of NCAA rules prohibiting gambling,” among other troubling behavior. Notre Dame Director of Athletics Pete Bevacqua confirmed the suspension on Thursday, writing that the gambling violations are part of “a deeply embedded team culture dismissive of Notre Dame’s standards for student-athletes.” “The overwhelming cultural dynamic on the team necessitates a full suspension,” Bevacqua wrote in the statement. “In order to ensure that this behavior ends and to rebuild a culture of dignity, respect, and exemplary conduct, we have decided to suspend the men’s swimming program for at least one academic year.” Following reports of potential culture issues with the men’s swimming team, Notre Dame hired a law firm to conduct an independent investigation. “This independent, external review also documented numerous violations of NCAA rules prohibiting gambling on intercollegiate swimming and other athletic competitions despite clear and recurrent training provided to all our student-athletes by our Athletics Compliance staff about those rules,” the statement said. Bevacqua said the investigation revealed that the swim team’s coaching staff, which was fully cooperative in the probe, was “not aware of gambling or the scope and extent” of the team’s misconduct. The men’s diving team along with the women’s swimming and diving teams, were not indicted in investigation and will continue to compete in the 2024-25 school year. “While it has been a difficult few months, I am confident that Notre Dame took the correct steps to ensure this misconduct does not continue,” Lindauer wrote in a statement, shared by BlueandGold.com. I am hopeful we will emerge from this situation stronger than ever.” Bevacqua noted that despite the sweeping suspension, not every individual on the men’s swimming was not involved in the misconduct: “We profoundly regret that the small number of team members who did not participate in the conduct, and those who were planning on joining the team this fall, will also suffer the consequences of this decision… – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2024/08/15/notre-dame-mens-swimming-team-suspended-gambling-misconduct/74818870007/