UVA Swimming posts snaps of coach on probation to Insta, Facebook

The PR people at UVA Athletics appear to be trolling us over our reporting on the two-year probation handed down to Gary Taylor, the associate head coach of the UVA Swimming program.

Taylor, who is serving a two-year probation after admitting to emotional misconduct involving swimmers at NC State, Auburn and Cavalier Aquatics, the Piedmont Family YMCA swim team, was featured in photos on the Facebook and Instagram pages for UVA Swimming that were posted on Saturday.

The snaps had him poolside smiling alongside two-time Olympic gold medalist Gretchen Walsh.

How’s that for a flex – an endorsement on the socials from the Olympian?

They sure are taking this seriously there at UVA Athletics, aren’t they?

We reported last week on the March 17 Notice of Decision from the U.S. Center for SafeSport that concluded with Taylor admitting to emotional misconduct while coaching swimmers from 2015 to 2022.

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ICYMI

• Cav Aquatics, UVA Swimming coach Gary Taylor on probation after admitting to emotional abuse of athletes

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In that report, we noted that details of the SafeSport decision and the two-year probation were shared with officials with the Piedmont Family YMCA and with Todd DeSorbo, the head coach of the UVA Swimming team and the head coach of the 2024 U.S. Women’s Swimming Team.

The probation and the details of the investigation into Taylor, all involving female swimmers, had not previously been made public, in line with SafeSport’s policies regarding its investigations.

We reached out to both the Piedmont Family YMCA and to UVA Athletics, to request an interview with Gary Taylor, with Jessica Taylor, the CEO at the Piedmont Family YMCA, who is also the wife of Gary Taylor, with Todd DeSorbo, and with Carla Williams, the athletics director at UVA, to discuss the SafeSport investigatory findings.

There were no takers on the requests for interviews and the opportunity to comment.

The first public acknowledgement of the story came from the Piedmont Family YMCA, whose chief operating officer, Chris Carr, sent an email to Cav Aquatics families following the publication of our reported story on Taylor to address “what you’ve been reading in the news.”

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ICYMI

• Piedmont Family YMCA addresses status of embattled swim coach Gary Taylor

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The email reported to parents that Taylor “has been primarily at UVA for the last year, continuing at the Y to mentor (c)oaches Conor Hassard and Jason Swaim through their transitions to Head Senior Coach and Head Age Group Coach.”

One way to read that: the guy in the story you’ve been reading in the news, nothing to worry about, he’s not really here anymore anyway.

Reinforcing that: the Y removed Taylor’s bio from the  “Meet the Coaches” page on the Cav Aquatics website after we published our story on June 9.

None of the swimmers involved in the SafeSport process with Taylor are on the UVA Swimming team, and his probation wouldn’t prohibit Taylor from any of his normal coaching activities with either swim team.

I do need to note here that I’ve been contacted by a person close to the UVA Swimming program who has shared information about a separate SafeSport investigation into the program that we’re working to track down.

I also will note that we’ve had multiple additional swimmers from Auburn and Cav Aquatics reach out to share their experiences with Taylor, which we’re working to corroborate and should be sharing in the coming days.

Which is to say, this story, unfortunately for UVA Athletics, isn’t going away.

The trolling on Insta and Facebook won’t be the last word, is what I’m saying here.