Notre Dame reinstates men's swimming program after accusations of culture issues, gambling

Notre Dame is set to reinstate its men’s swimming program, athletics director Pete Bevacqua announced Wednesday. The program was suspended for the 2024-25 academic year after allegations of culture issues and gambling.

News of the allegations within the program surfaced in late June 2024 when Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde reported an external review was underway. The law firm Ropes & Gray LLP was brought in, and Bevacqua said the goal was for a “fair and complete” review of the situation.

Wednesday, Bevacqua announced the program took the steps to fix the issues that led to the review. He said the men’s swimming team would be back in action next season as a result.

“Over the course of the last year, our men’s swimming team has taken the critical and necessary steps to correct the issues that led to the suspension of the program this past summer,” Bevacqua said. “As a result, we have made the determination that our men’s swimming team will return to full competition next season. While we have all learned some difficult lessons through this process, we are confident that this team is set up for success in the future.”

In June 2024, Forde reported gambling allegations within the program related to over-under wagers involving swim times during meets, and there were bets involving the basketball postseason in the NCAA Tournament. Notre Dame then announced plans to suspend the program, confirming the multiple violations committed and the need to “rebuild” the culture. The decision did not affect the women’s swimming program or either diving team.

“The external review confirmed and expanded on our initial concerns about a deeply embedded team culture dismissive of Notre Dame’s standards for student-athletes, including our expectation that they treat one another with dignity and respect. 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,” Bevacqua wrote. “These findings are contrary to the University’s values and all that we stand for in Notre Dame Athletics.

“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,” continued Bevacqua. “While individual conduct varied, the overwhelming cultural dynamic on the team necessitates a full suspension. 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.”