Cal Swimmers Frustrated with McKeever Investigation; Durden to Coach Both Programs

Current and former members of the Cal women’s swim team say they’re concerned about the direction of a law firm’s investigation into dozens of verbal and emotional abuse allegations against longtime head coach Teri McKeever, according to a new report from the OC Register.

The swimmers claim that attorneys have yet to ask them about the athletic department administrators who are accused of repeatedly ignoring credible complaints. One legal expert told SwimSwam that it’s not unusual for investigations like these to first focus on whether the individual in question committed wrongdoing before addressing any administrative oversight. 

Among those who allegedly enabled and defended McKeever’s behavior were athletic director Jim Knowlton and Jennifer Simon-O’Neill, senior executive associate athletic director and McKeever’s close friend (social media posts from 2012 also confirmed that McKeever is godmother to the oldest child of Simon-O’Neill). A former Cal administrator told the Southern California News Group (SCNG) that top athletic department officials have been aware “for years” of McKeever’s purported pattern of verbal and emotional abuse toward athletes.

“Your number one job as an administrator is to protect the student athlete, the kids. There’s no way (athletic department officials) didn’t know if there’s that much information there, this was an avalanche,” a former university administrator said. “Everybody can’t be wrong. (Athletic department officials) were enabling Teri with their refusal to shut it down. This has to stop! This has gone on for years.”

A group of current and former Cal swimmers, their parents, and a former university administrator also raised questions about a potential conflict of interest with the law firm, Munger, Tolles and Olson, hired by the university to run the investigation.

Brad Brian, a former all-conference baseball player at Cal, holds the top position of chair at Munger, Tolles and Olson. Brian is a major donor to Cal’s athletic department, recently leading campaigns to build beach volleyball and softball facilities at the school. He’s also one of two recipients of the Robert Gordon & Ida Sproul award for the “most outstanding contribution to the university.”

“I’m a proud alum of UC Berkeley and a supporter of Cal Athletics and gender equity,” Brian said in a statement. “I had nothing to do with our firm being hired to investigate the allegations against Coach McKeever, have played no role whatsoever in that investigation, and haven’t discussed the investigation with anyone at Cal. Partner Hailyn Chen, a national leader in investigations involving allegations of abuse, is leading the investigation. I am confident that Hailyn will conduct a thorough and neutral investigation.”

With McKeever on administrative leave since May, the Cal women’s team will reportedly be coached by men’s head coach Dave Durden, merging the two programs for the time being.

“Dave Durden will be acting as the Director of Cal Swimming which allows him and his staff to work directly with both the women’s and men’s swimming and diving programs while the current coach is on leave,” Cal spokesman Dan Mogulof said. “When programs are combined, the NCAA permits an additional coach to be on staff to support both programs, and that is what we are doing.”

Over the past several months, 36 current or former Cal swimmers and divers, 17 parents, a former member of the men’s swimming and diving squad at Cal, two former coaches, a former Cal administrator, and two former Cal athletic department employees have come forward to the SCNG with stories of McKeever’s bullying. 

Some of the details are disturbing, including how nine Cal women’s swimmers — six since 2018 — told SCNG that they made plans to kill themselves or obsessed about suicide due to McKeever’s treatment. One of those women expressed outrage when an investigating attorney recently questioned whether she was actually suicidal.

In a statement to SCNG, the Berkeley Faculty Association (BFA) said that recent scandals surrounding the football, women’s soccer, and swimming teams suggest the issue is systemic within Cal’s athletic department. 

“The Berkeley Faculty Association is deeply alarmed by allegations of abuse towards student athletes by coaches,” James Vernon, BFA chair, wrote in a statement to SCNG. “The cluster of cases around football, women’s soccer and swimming suggests there is a systemic problem that urgently needs to be addressed by campus. It is all the more disturbing given that the Chancellor continues to subsidize the athletics program $25 million a year, leaving aside the huge debt burden of the football stadium, while there is such an urgent need for more Title IX and mental health staff on campus.”