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When you think of sports programs on college campuses that are liable to go crazy, Men’s Swimming is not usually mentioned in the same way that other sports are. But, the Notre Dame Men’s Swimming program has gone off the rails.
After an investigation commenced into the program back in June, the findings have been revealed. And, they are not a good look, to say the least.
The news was broken by SI’s Pat Forde, who is mostly known for his college football coverage but is very involved in the swimming community as well, with his daughter Brooke winning a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
Here’s more from the article.
The Notre Dame men’s team effectively created its own sports book for the purpose of wagering on their swimming performances, sources say. A majority of the returning 2024–25 team is believed to have placed bets. “Over/under” lines were established for a swimmer’s times in certain races, with wagers being placed on the outcomes. There are no known gambling companies that take wagers or produce betting lines on college swimming.
The decision was made now to give swimmers a little bit of time to find transfer homes for the upcoming season, but penalties from the NCAA over gambling would still apply to those that were involved. The swimmers gambled on more than just their own swimming times, as well, as bets on other sports were found.
Ultimately, the bets on their own teammates are the biggest issue here. You can’t be betting on your own teammates’ performance at any level of sports. It’s just not something that is acceptable.
Still, this is a pretty rare step in college athletics and a huge black eye on all of Notre Dame Athletics.
The investigation by Ropes & Gray found that the coaching staff, led by head coach Chris Lindauer, didn’t know of any of the issues going on and the staff won’t be disciplined. But, this will be a huge setback for the program.
It also marked the first really big decision that new athletic director and former NBC Sports executive Pete Bevacqua has had to make since succeeding Jack Swarbrick earlier this year.