Lars Jorgensen Resigns as University of Kentucky Coach Amid Investigation
Lars Jorgensen has resigned from his position as the head coach of the University of Kentucky, the school announced on Wednesday.
Jorgensen’s resignation was accepted by athletic director Mitch Barnhart, the school announced in a terse, 64-word news dump during U.S. Nationals. The university did not comment on whether Jorgensen was suspended due to an NCAA investigation as has been reported.
SwimSwam first reported the allegations.
Jorgensen’s results in the pool were impressive. An Olympic swimmer for the United States at the 1988 Games, Jorgensen was hired ahead of the 2013-14 season after one season as an assistant coach. He elevated the Wildcats to national prominence, having inherited a team that finished 10th in the SEC Championships his first season.
In his eighth season, in 2021, he led the Wildcats to the women’s SEC Championship. He was named the SEC Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year that season.
Danielle Galyer won the school’s first women’s swimming NCAA title in 2016 in the 200 back, and Levi Sandidge this season won the first men’s SEC swimming title for a Kentucky swimmer since 2006. Asia Seidt was named the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year, a year after she was the 200 back champ at U.S. Nationals in the summer of 2019.
Jorgensen entered his 10th year in Lexington having mentored swimmers to 21 All-America honors and 15 SEC Championship medals. From 2015-22, he mentored five SEC Scholar-Athletes of the Year. Jorgensen was a coach on the U.S. National Team five straight seasons from 2014-19. Galyer represented New Zealand at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, along with Zimbabwe’s Peter Wetzlar. Sean Gunn of Zimbabwe competed at the 2016 Olympics.
Kentucky finished 19th at women’s NCAAs this year, its ninth straight top-25 finish at the national meet. The highest finish was in 2021 at 11th. Kentucky’s women’s team has been no lower than fourth at SECs since 2017.
