Teri McKeever

Former members of Cal women’s swim and dive filed a lawsuit against the University of California over alleged negligence surrounding former Cal women’s swim coach Teri McKeever.

UC Berkeley has allegedly started a formal investigation into Cal’s athletic director, or AD, Jim Knowlton and associate AD Jennifer Simon-O’Neill over the response to abuse allegations made against former women’s swim and dive coach Teri Mckeever, according to reporting by SCNG Thursday.

For a coach to have created an atmosphere where athletes developed depressive thoughts and experienced significant misconduct is utterly unacceptable.

Tuesday afternoon, athletic director Jim Knowlton addressed the team and announced that the University would be parting ways with McKeever.

Swimming away from the defeat Cal suffered last weekend against Arizona State, the Bears will have their last home dual meets against USC and UCLA Friday and Saturday.

Behind the hidden curtains of Cal women’s swim and dive, McKeever allegedly turned a competitive atmosphere into a haunting one, changing the tides of many people’s hopeful collegiate swim careers.

Toughness is certainly a desirable trait in a coach, but there is clearly a line between being tough and being abusive, and the behaviors alleged in this case have unquestionably crossed that line.

Behind the trophies and national titles stands, perhaps, a different narrative for Cal swimmers.

The Bears will dive into competitive territory as they face off against the likes of UCLA, Washington State and host Fresno State this weekend.

USA Swimming Olympic Trials came to an end Sunday, and three more Cal swimmers qualified to swim in the Olympics later this summer.