Former Kentucky coach Lars Jorgensen is said to have been suspended in 2019

Former head coach of the University of Kentucky Lars Jorgensen was reportedly suspended in 2019 for failing to report allegations of sexual harassment against one of his employees, according to documents obtained by the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Jorgensen was also suspended for the Wildcats’ SEC opener in November 2023 before being barred from competing for nearly two months last May before resigning in June. Last month, two of his former swimmers (who later became assistant coaches) filed suit against Jorgensen and Kentucky, claiming the university was complicit in allowing him to groom and sexually abuse them.

Jorgensen was reportedly suspended for six days without pay in December 2019 for concealing allegations of sexual assault against a staff member. Before resigning last June, he received a $75,000 severance package – significantly less than the $402,500 remaining on his contract through the 2024-25 season.

Jorgensen’s lawyer, Greg Andersonattributed the disturbing allegations to his support of Riley GainesJorgensen himself denied the allegations that he was a “serial sex offender” and claimed that he had consensual relationships with his accusers when they worked under him as an assistant coach at Kentucky.

Former Kentucky swimming coach Gary Connelly and current sports director Mitch Barnhart are also named as defendants in the lawsuit, along with Jorgensen and the university for their “deliberate indifference.” Kentucky’s Title IX office has reportedly been aware of allegations since 2019 that Jorgensen had a relationship with one of his swimmers at Toledo and sexually harassed a Kentucky employee. In the lawsuit, former members of the Wildcats program say they were “vigorously discouraged” by a Title IX official from reporting Jorgensen’s abuse.

In 2014, a former Toledo softball coach accused Jorgensen of having a long-term romance with a swimmer, hiring her as an assistant coach and eventually promoting her to head coach in a Title IX lawsuit, where he was one of three examples of male head coaches and administrators who had “committed far more egregious offenses” without being fired. Conelly said The athlete that he had looked into the situation and that Jorgensen only started dating her after she stopped swimming.

“It’s not uncommon for a coach to have a relationship with a former swimmer,” Conelly said.

As a swimmer, Jorgensen set program records at the University of Tennessee and represented the United States at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. The 53-year-old has also held the Ironman World Championship record for nearly two decades with a swim time of 46:41.