NCAA investigators have found major violations in the University of Iowa men's swimming program after learning that three foreign swimmers and a former head coach falsified admission records in 2002 and 2003. [Related Article]

Investigators determined the violations took place when three Polish swimmers - Tomasz Dziedic, Konrad Kasmierczak and Mariusz Muras - and former coach John Davey intentionally failed to disclose that the swimmers had attended college in Poland before enrolling at Iowa.

The report's findings, obtained by The Des Moines Register under Iowa's open records law, represent the first time since 1993 that any University of Iowa athletic program has been cited for a major violation of NCAA rules. It is Iowa's fourth major violation in NCAA history.

Fred Mims, an Iowa associate athletic director and head of rules compliance, said the NCAA's Committee on Infractions is tentatively scheduled to review a recently completed investigative report at its October meeting. The committee must approve the report and penalties to be imposed on the program to conclude the investigation.

Iowa already has agreed to pay a $5,000 fine to the NCAA for allowing ineligible athletes to compete - "the maximum amount required for individual sports" such as swimming. The school also has forfeited all points earned by the three swimmers for meets in which they participated.

In addition, Iowa officials promised to be "more diligent in obtaining information from prospective student-athletes whose records reveal a gap in time."

Neither Davey nor the three swimmers remain at Iowa. Davey resigned in December 2004, shortly after a school investigation into the allegations began, and the three athletes had their admissions withdrawn in January 2005.

Iowa officials expect to learn next month what additional penalties, if any, the men's swimming program will face.

"The committee can certainly add penalties if they would choose to do so, but we believe that our response to the violations has been appropriate and that we are addressing the weaknesses we have found," Mims said Wednesday.

In 1993, several Iowa programs - including men's swimming - were among those at seven Big Ten Conference schools found to have violated NCAA rules in over-awarding scholarships in 14 non-revenue sports.

Iowa has had two other major violation cases - in 1986 and 1964, according to the NCAA. The 1986 investigation involved men's swimming, women's golf, softball and volleyball, according to the NCAA Web site. The 1964 case involved the men's basketball program.

Investigators disclosed their conclusion in a summary disposition report filed with university officials in July. The Register recently obtained a redacted version of the report after an Iowa open-records law request.

The report centers on allegations that swimmers from Poland on the 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05 teams and coach Davey participated in a scheme that provided the program an improper recruiting advantage.

While the redacted report doesn't name Dziedic, Kasmierczak or Muras specifically, Iowa men's swimming media guides list only those three Hawkeye swimmers as Polish natives during those years. Kasmierczak attended Iowa and was one of the top members of the Hawkeye swimming team in 2002-03 and 2003-04; Dziedic and Muras began at Iowa in 2003.

The men's swimming program faces a number of potential sanctions, including being placed on probation, loss of scholarships and limits on recruiting trips, according to NCAA bylaws.

In addition, a finding of a major violation within an NCAA program subjects that program to potential suspension under the so-called death penalty. Any program found to have committed two major violations within five years could be suspended from operating for up to two years.

NCAA investigators indicated in the report that they won't seek a finding of a lack of institutional control - one of the most serious in NCAA governance. In their summation, investigators said school officials acted appropriately at the time they learned of the problem and also appeared to have taken the necessary steps to avoid such circumstances from occurring.

In the report, NCAA investigators and school officials said the investigation began in late September 2004 after an anonymous telephone caller claimed that the three swimmers, all members of Poland's national swim team, had attended college in their home country, yet started at Iowa as freshmen.

The investigation found:

• Davey knowingly assisted the athletes in filing fraudulent admission applications at Iowa as part of recruiting the athletes. The report says Davey acknowledged that he discarded the original application from Kasmierczak in 2002 because it disclosed the athlete's prior college enrollment and asked for a second application without the disclosure.
• Kasmierczak was used by Davey to help recruit Dziedic and Muras by making telephone calls to them, a secondary violation of NCAA rules. Davey also violated the NCAA limit of one-time-per-week telephone calls in the recruiting of one of the athletes.
• Davey violated NCAA ethics rules by initially denying he knew that the three athletes had attended college in Poland. Davey admitted to it after Iowa officials confronted him with records from each athlete's college in Poland.
• All three athletes could have competed at Iowa without any problem had they been willing to accept a year in residence as a transfer student. Instead, the three athletes chose not to disclose their previous college experience, making them ineligible to compete.

- Several additional secondary violations were discovered, including failure by Iowa officials to adequately monitor completion of NCAA General Amateurism and Eligibility forms for international students in 2002 and 2003 and one athlete receiving $50 in prize money from a competition in Europe in excess of actual expenses.

Neither Davey nor the three athletes could be reached for comment, but the investigative report includes a statement from Davey, who also was a top swimmer for the Hawkeyes in the 1980s.

"I acknowledge and take responsibility for my actions, but please know that I truly regret my poor judgment regarding this matter." Davey said. "I am extremely embarrassed by the situation in which I have placed the University of Iowa, its athletics department, swim program and indeed my family and myself."

This article is copyright the Des Moines Register and reprinted here with their permission.