Cal fires longtime swimming coach McKeever after spate of bullying, abuse allegations
University of California has fired longtime women’s swimming and diving coach Teri McKeever following an eight-month investigation into widespread allegations of bullying and abuse.
Cal athletic director Jim Knowlton announced the decision on Tuesday in a letter to student-athletes. The decision arrived after an extensive investigation that involved interviews with 147 people and reviews of 1,700 documents conducted by university lawyers, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
“I’m writing to inform you that today we have parted ways with long-time women’s swimming coach, Teri McKeever,” Knowlton’s letter reads. “After carefully reviewing an extensive investigative report that was recently completed by an independent law firm, I strongly believe this is in the best interests of our student-athletes, our swimming program, and Cal Athletics as a whole.
“The report details numerous violations of university policies that prohibit race, national origin, and disability discrimination. The report also details verbally abusive conduct that is antithetical to our most important values. I was disturbed by what I learned in the course of reading through the report’s 482 pages that substantiate far too many allegations of unacceptable behavior. I want to apologize, on behalf of Cal Athletics, to every student-athlete who was subject to this conduct in the past, and I want to thank everyone who had the courage to come forward and share their story with the investigators.”
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Per the Mercury News, 44 current or former Cal swimmers and 23 parents are among a group that also includes former coaches and administrators who accused McKeever of routine bullying that included body shaming, personal insults, racial epithets and pressure to compete while ill or injured.
The complaints date back to January 2010 when former Cal swimmer Jenna Rais wrote to then-chancellor Robert Joseph Birgeneau with allegations that she had experienced abuse by McKeever. Since then, McKeever has been allowed to coach at Cal for 11 more years amid an influx of allegations.
She was placed on administrative leave last May when the allegations came to light via an investigation by the Southern California News Group. The Mercury News reports that she’s made more than $3 million over those years while receiving eight pay raises. Cal won national championships in 2011, 2015 and 2019 during that timeframe.
Former Cal swimmer Danielle Carter told the Orange County Register last May that McKeever’s alleged abuse prompted her to consider suicide in 2019.
“It got to the point where I literally couldn’t take it anymore from Teri,” Carter said. “I can’t do this anymore. I don’t want to be alive anymore. That night I literally didn’t want to be alive. It was like, ‘OK, I’m ready to die. I want to kill myself. I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want to be alive.'”
Carter said that she texted teammates that night instead for support. She told the Register that McKeever ridiculed her the next day when she informed her coach that she had contemplated suicide. Per the SCNG investigation, Carter was one of at least six Cal swimmers since 2018 who contemplated suicide because of McKeever’s alleged bullying.
According to the SCNG investigation that included interviews with 19 current or former Cal swimmers, McKeever’s targeted up to three swimmers each year for almost daily bullying and mental abuse. LGBTQ swimmers were often the subjects of her bullying, per the report.
Ex-Cal swimmer Leann Toomey says that McKeever’s alleged abuse prompted her to attempt suicide in 2018. She told the Register on Tuesday that McKeever got “what she deserved” with her dismissal.