Notre Dame Suspends Men’s Swim Team For Gambling Violations

• The Notre Dame men’s swimming team got suspended for a minimum of one year due to internal gambling violations.
• An investigation shows the team created their own sportsbook to wager on Notre Dame swim performances and other sports.
• A majority of the returning team for the 2024-2025 swim season participated in the betting.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame suspended their men’s swimming program for at least one year on Thursday due to internal gambling violations. An investigation revealed a majority of the team was involved in creating a sportsbook to bet on their own swimming events and other sports.

The legal sports betting violations occurred only with athletes, as coaches and staff members were unaware of the internal gambling actions. A statement released by Notre Dame athletics confirmed they responded to reports of misconduct with an investigation, which led to at least one year of suspension for the men’s swimming team.

“The external review confirmed and expanded on our initial concerns about a deeply embedded team culture dismissive of Notre Dame’s standards for student-athletes, including our expectation that they treat one another with dignity and respect,” said Notre Dame Vice President and Director of Athletics Pete Bevacqua in a statement. “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. These findings are contrary to the University’s values and all that we stand for in Notre Dame Athletics. 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.”

More Details On Notre Dame Men’s Swimming Betting Scandal

Reportedly a majority of next year’s men’s swimming team, roughly 60% of them, were involved in creating the makeshift sportsbook for athletes to bet on their own swim times. There aren’t any Indiana sports betting sites with collegiate swim lines, so the athletes created their own.

The bets didn’t involve any of the women’s swimming, women’s diving, or men’s diving teams. In addition to making bets on swimming, members of the men’s swimming team also wagered on the Super Bowl and March Madness games.

This isn’t the first college betting scandal, as Iowa and Iowa State players were charged with betting on football games back in August. The Notre Dame betting scandal might be the latest, but it definitely won’t be the last.

News tags: Indiana | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | Swimming