8+ Questions Still Remaining About The Suspension Of Notre Dame Men’s Swimming

By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam

The Notre Dame men’s swimming program has been suspended for a minimum of one academic year after an investigation into gambling, the school announced yesterday.

The school announced in June that an outside law firm would be investigating the men’s program. Sources say that the investigation has been ongoing at least since January and from what it sounds like, the swimmers practically ran their own sportsbook.

Link To Full School Statement

Here are some of the top questions that remain after the announcement:

1. What was the scale of the dollars involved?
   • NCAA rules indicate different levels of severity depending on the type of sport(s) and dollar amount(s) of the betting. More severe punishments are given for athletes who influence their own games/meets. Athletes so far have downplayed the amount of money involved, presenting it as small, silly bets, while the administration painted it more as a full-blown sportsbook.
2. What does “full suspension” mean? Are practices included, are just meets included?
   • The school statement said, “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.”
3. If these athletes can participate in practice of some sort, can they participate in club (USA Swimming) meets, and how will they be coached? Can they join the Notre Dame Collegiate Club Team or compete at the Collegiate Club National Championships? The latter seems unlikely, as this would still fall under the purview of Notre Dame’s administration, which applied the suspension in the first place.
4. What are the rules for transferring or redshirting in a situation like this?
   • The NCAA 2023-2024 Division I manual states in 10.4 that “Prospective or enrolled student-athletes found in violation of the provisions of this regulation shall be ineligible for further intercollegiate competition, subject to appeal to the Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement for restoration of eligibility”
   • As it is the full team being put on suspension and not individual athletes, can individual athletes that have been found to not participate in the gambling, transfer to compete under another team? The NCAA transfer portal deadline was May 3rd for the men which makes transferring with immediate eligibility difficult, leading to the question of could transfer athletes (or athletes staying at Notre Dame) redshirt the entire year? Does the ability to redshirt depend on whether or not the athletes participated in the gambling?
   • Can the incoming student-athletes receive full releases from their NLIs?
5. What does this mean for potential fifth-year athletes?
   • The Notre Dame men had numerous fifth year athletes this past season so it is not uncommon for the team to have fifth years.
6. Do the athletes still receive their scholarships for this year?
7. Could further consequences be incoming? Specifically legal consequences?
   • If the athletes are right, and these were just small bets, it’s unlikely that federal authorities will find it worth their time to get involved.
8. What happens to the team’s best swimmer, Chris Guiliano?
   • The timing couldn’t be worse for Guiliano, who won gold and silver at the Olympics and is going to be one of the central figures for American swimming heading toward the Los Angeles Olympics. Will he transfer? Will he go pro? How does this impact endorsements or NLI money for him, and how does that play into his decision-making?

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