Mitchell Ivey (born February 2, 1949) is a former American international

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who was a

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimm ...

specialist and Olympic medalist. Ivey later became a prominent Olympic and college swimming coach.

Early years

He was born in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

, and trained with the

Santa Clara Swim Club The Santa Clara Swim Club (abbreviated SCSC) is a renowned swimming club and team based in Santa Clara, California. Part of USA Swimming, it is a USA Swimming Silver Medal Club and a part of the Pacific Swimming LSC, sub-governed by Zone 1 South. ...

under coach

George Haines George Frederick Haines (March 9, 1924 – May 1, 2006) was a swimmer and swimming coach who coached at the Santa Clara Swim Club, Stanford University and UCLA. He also coached for seven U.S. Olympic swim teams. He was inducted into the Int ...

.Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes
Mitch Ivey
Retrieved July 5, 2012. As a member of the Santa Clara Swim Club, he won three

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

(AAU) United States national championships. He initially attended

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

, but transferred to

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities ...

, where he swam for coach

Don Gambril Donald Lee Gambril (born January 2, 1934) is an American former swimming coach. He was the 1984 U.S. Olympic Coach and Assistant U.S. Olympic Coach in 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1980. Gambril coached many well-known Olympic swimmers, such as Mark S ...

Long Beach State 49ers Long Beach State athletics, or simply Beach athletics (previously known as the 49ers), are the athletic teams that represent California State University, Long Beach. Teams compete in 19 sports at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NC ...

swim team in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA) competition. Ivey won the 200-yard backstroke at the

NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships The NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships are annual college championship events in the United States. The meets take place in a 25-yard pool, except for the Division I meets in 2000 and 2004 which were swum in a 25-meter competi ...

with a time of 1:52.77 in 1970, and graduated from Long Beach State in 1972.

Olympic career

Ivey participated in two Olympics as a member of the United States Olympic Team: the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport ev ...

in Mexico City, and the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 19 ...

in Munich, Germany, winning two Olympic medals. He won a silver medal by finishing second behind

Roland Matthes Roland Matthes (, ; 17 November 1950 – 20 December 2019) was a German swimmer and the most successful backstroke swimmer of all time. Between April 1967 and August 1974 he won all backstroke competitions he entered. He won four European champ ...

in the men's 200-meter backstroke in 1968.databaseOlympics.com, Athletes
Mitch Ivey
. Retrieved July 5, 2012. He also won a bronze medal with a third-place finish in the 200-meter backstroke, and competed in the 100-meter backstroke, placing fourth in the finals at the 1972 Olympics. He swam for the gold medal-winning U.S. relay team in the preliminary heats of the men's 4×100-meter medley, but was ineligible to receive a medal under the 1972 Olympic swimming rules because he did not swim in the event final.

Coaching career

Ivey became a noted Olympic and college swimming coach after his own competition swimming career ended. From 1974 to 1979, he was the head coach of the Santa Clara Swim Club, succeeding George Haines. Three of his Santa Clara swimmers qualified for the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

. In 1981, he became the head coach of the Concord Pleasant Hill Swim Club. From late 1988 to mid-1990, he coached the elite Etobicoke Swim Club in Toronto, Ontario. He served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic Team at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

. Ivey was chosen to replace

Randy Reese Randy Reese (born 1946) is an American college and Olympic swimming coach. Reese is best known for coaching the Florida Gators swimming and diving teams of the University of Florida to four national championships, and coaching the winners of e ...

as the head coach of the

Florida Gators swimming and diving The Florida Gators swimming and diving program represents the University of Florida in the aquatics sports of swimming and diving. The program includes separate men's and women's teams, both of which compete in Division I of the National Coll ...

team of the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, and led the Gators women's team from 1990 to 1993.
Florida Swimming & Diving 2011–12 Media Supplement
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida (2011). Retrieved July 5, 2012. During his three seasons as Florida's coach, the Lady Gators swimmers won the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) championship three consecutive years, and finished third, third and second nationally at the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships. He was also recognized as the SEC Coach of the Year for three consecutive seasons. The

University of Florida Athletic Association The University Athletic Association, Inc. (UAA) is a non-profit corporation that is responsible for maintaining the Florida Gators intercollegiate sports program of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. The UAA is run by a board o ...

released him in October 1993 following an episode of the

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

television show ''

Outside the Lines ''Outside the Lines'', or also referred to as ''OTL'', is an American television program on ESPN that looks "outside the lines" and examines critical issues in mostly American sports on and off the field of play. The primary host of the show is ...

'' which recounted Ivey's history of romantic involvement with several of his previous swimmers before he became a coach at the University of Florida, and made allegations of sexual harassment against him. Ivey had been previously married three times, including his second wife who was an 18-year-old swimmer at the time he married her.Pat Dooley,
UF swim coach Mitch Ivey fired
" ''The Gainesville Sun'', pp. 1A & 8A (October 26, 1993). Retrieved July 8, 2012. Ivey denied the charges of misconduct, saying "I was told that putting my arm around a girl and using foul language was deemed reason enough or the University of Florida to fire him" ESPN did not interview Ivey, nor did he answer on air any of the allegations by ESPN. His Florida women's swimmers issued a unanimous statement supporting him, and stated publicly they did not complain about nor witness any inappropriate behavior. Ivey later coached the Trinity Prep Saints swimming and diving team of

Trinity Preparatory School Trinity Preparatory School of Florida is an independent college preparatory day-school for students in grades 6 to 12, located in Winter Park, a suburb of Orlando. It is affiliated with the Episcopal Church and is accredited by the Florida Coun ...

in Winter Park, Florida, and its affiliated club team, Trinity Prep Aquatics, during the late 1990s. Most recently, from 2003 to 2006, Ivey coached swimming at the

Episcopal School of Jacksonville Episcopal School of Jacksonville is an independent, coeducational private college preparatory school in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It was founded in 1966 by the Episcopal Diocese of Florida. The school has two lower schools, a middle ...

, Florida. Suzette Moran, who was also coached by King, alleges in a lawsuit she was 16 when U.S. Olympic coach Mitch Ivey first made sexual advances toward her. Ivey, a two-time Olympic medalist who coached at Concord Pleasant Hill Swim Club at the time, allegedly went into her hotel room and had unwanted sex with her during the 1983 U.S. Championships in Indianapolis on a trip chaperoned by King. On December 24, 2013, USA Swimming, the national governing body for competition swimming in the United States, officially banned Ivey for life based on evidence that he had improper sexual relations with one or more swimmers while he was their coach.

Personal life

Ivey is the father of Jeb Ivey, a former professional basketball player.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ivey, Mitch 1949 births Living people American male backstroke swimmers Florida Gators swimming coaches Long Beach State Beach swimmers Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming Swimmers from San Jose, California Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Universiade medalists in swimming Universiade gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1970 Summer Universiade