Johnathan Walker: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,Johnathan Walker" 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. Bevacqua said the investigation confirmed the allegations of misconduct and offered a bigger picture on the team's "troubling behaviors."

"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.

"Team members effectively concealed such behaviors from the coaches and staff through concerted efforts," Bevacqua said. "According to the review, when the staff became aware of certain isolated incidents of unacceptable conduct, they treated them seriously and professionally. We appreciate the continued service of the staff to our women’s swimming and diving programs and our men’s diving program during these difficult times."

Notre Dame swimming coach Chris Lindauer said the university took the “correct steps” toward rebuilding the program’s culture.

“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. "Our team culture is my utmost priority, and I am committed to improving upon the student-athlete experience both in and out of the pool. 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... While we are certainly disappointed by the actions that led to the decision, we recognize that our students make mistakes, and our goal is to educate and support them to the best of our ability."

The news comes just two weeks after Notre Dame men's swimming standout Chris Guiliano won an Olympic gold medal as part of Team USA's 400-meter freestyle relay team. Lindauer was an assistant coach for Team USA as well.

Contributing: Austin Hough South Bend Tribune

► The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast.Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.