Stanford Swim Coach Suspended For 2 Months For Deleting Records

Skip Kenney erased names and records of five former athletes from team publications

April 20, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Stanford suspended men's swimming coach Skip Kenney for two months without pay following an investigation into allegations that he erased the names and records of five former athletes from team publications.

Athletic director Bob Bowlsby said Friday that Kenney exhibited a "serious lack of judgment" when he deleted the swimmers from media guides that contain team statistics, but the investigation did not find any violation of NCAA rules.

The 64-year-old Kenney, who has coached the Cardinal's men's swim team for 28 years, apologized to Stanford students, faculty, alumni and athletes for "my error in judgment."

"I had no right to omit the records of any athlete on media guides or other publications," he said in a statement. "This will not occur again."

Kenney, whose varsity teams have won the last 26 Pac-10 championships and seven NCAA titles, initially was suspended indefinitely with pay on March 9 and barred from accompanying the team to the NCAA swimming championships in Minneapolis the following week. Stanford finished second, with Auburn winning its fifth straight title.

The names and best times of 2006 graduates Michael McLean, Peter Carothers, Tobias Oriwol and Rick Eddy, as well as a 1989 performance by Jason Plummer, were expunged from this year's guide.

McLean told the San Francisco Chronicle that his times in the 500-, 200-, 1,650- and 1,000-yard freestyle were removed because he gave a summer internship priority over training in 2005. Requiring offseason training for student athletes is a violation of NCAA rules.

Bowlsby said Friday that the investigation did not find evidence that Kenney had violated NCAA regulations governing voluntary workouts.

Officials heard from many student athletes who said Kenney had made a positive impact on their lives, Bowlsby said.

Kenney thanked the university for allowing him to return to his coaching career.