Ex-Kentucky swimmers sue, allege sexual assault by then-coach - ESPN

Two former Kentucky swimmers filed a lawsuit against the school, its athletic director and former swim coach Lars Jorgensen on Friday, claiming the coach sexually assaulted them and that the university ignored warnings about his alleged inappropriate behavior toward women.

The lawsuit states that Jorgensen «forcibly raped» former Kentucky swimmer Briggs Alexander, who was a graduate student at the time of the first alleged assault and, later, an assistant coach for the team. Another unnamed former swimmer claims Jorgensen groped, harassed and attempted to have sex with her in 2022 while she was an assistant coach. The lawsuit also details an allegation made by a third unnamed woman who is not a plaintiff and who says Jorgensen «forcibly raped» her in 2013 during his first year as the team's head coach.

Jorgensen did not respond to a phone call from ESPN. He told The Athletic, which first reported Friday's lawsuit, that none of the allegations against him were true.

Jay Blanton, a university spokesman, said the school takes any allegations of misconduct «very seriously» but does not «discuss specific personnel issues.»

Jorgensen resigned as Kentucky coach in June. The university did not provide any detail about why Jorgensen was leaving the swim team when it announced his resignation.

According to the lawsuit, multiple other coaches at Kentucky witnessed Jorgensen groping swimmers or his assistants during his decade with the program. On one occasion in 2015 or 2016, the suit says, a coach reported his alleged behavior to the university's Title IX office.

Mark Howard, who had coached with Jorgensen at the University of Toledo, told the plaintiffs' attorneys that he emailed Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart and the