As Jack Bauerle’s career at Georgia dangled in limbo this summer, the Bulldogs’ legendary swim coach wanted to get as far away from the controversy as possible. So he and four longtime buddies took a surfing trip to the other side of the world.
They spent three weeks in the Mentawai Islands. You might have heard of them. They’re located area 100 miles off the coast of Asia’s West Sumatra, where a 7.7-magnitude earthquake spawned a killer tsunami in 2010.
“It took 44 hours to get there,” Bauerle said, “but it was worth every minute of it.”
It also was worth, he said, the surgery to his right shoulder that he had to have Dec. 23. He already was battling a partially torn rotator cuff and bone spurs when one of the 20-foot Sumatran grinders finished the job.
“It was dangerous over there, but the surgery was forthcoming whether I went over there or not,” Bauerle said. “As soon as I got back, I called (Dr.) Robert (Hancock) and said ‘let’s do it.’ I soon as I knew I was back (as UGA’s coach), I wanted to feel good for NCAAs and wanted to get through the worst of it.”
It’s a fitting metaphor. Bruised and battered though he is, Bauerle will be “back on the deck” for Georgia’s biggest swim meet of the year. The Bulldogs play host to swimming and diving powerhouse Texas at 4 p.m. Saturday. With his mangled right arm bandaged tight within a padded sling, Bauerle will coach his swimmers during a meet for the first time in 412 days.
In the interim, Bauerle wasn’t sure what was ahead for him. He was under indefinite suspension by Georgia since it began to investigate his involvement in the academic affairs of star swimmer Chase Kalisz in December 2013. The matter escalated over the course of 2014 until it was deemed by NCAA enforcement to be a major infractions case.
Bauerle and UGA went before the NCAA infractions committee in October. They didn’t learn the outcome of that encounter until Dec. 16. And in the grand scheme of things, it could not have come out much better.
The panel accepted UGA’s argument that the charges should be reduced from Level I to Level II violations. Bauerle was issued a public reprimand and censure, assessed a nine-meet suspension and issued a one-year recruiting restriction that will expire in April. UGA was issued a $5,000 fine but was not placed on probation, retained all of its scholarships and did not have to vacate or forfeit any victories.
“I was relieved,” said Bauerle, who has won six national championships in his 35 seasons with the Bulldogs. “I was relieved for Georgia, and I was relieved to get back and be a coach again.”
Bauerle returns a different man. The time off allowed him to reconnect with family. He attended the events of three sons, John, at Western Kentucky, 17-year-old Magill at Monsignor Donovan Catholic High School in Athens and little Duke, who’s 4. He had an extended visit with his in-laws in California and re-established relationships with former swimmers.
“Many more positives than negatives,” he said. “My friendships got stronger, my ties to my family are stronger. In that way it was a blessing.”
There were wounds, for sure. One of the most significant was the laceration of Bauerle’s relationship with Athletic Director Greg McGarity. They’d been close friends since they were both Georgia coaches in the 1970s, and that was put in jeopardy by McGarity’s stringent handling of Bauerle’s situation.
In the end, though, McGarity’s rigid administration of the matter was cited as one of the reasons the Bulldogs and Bauerle avoided more serious consequences.
“I put Greg in a rough spot,” Bauerle said. “It put a strain on things without question. But we’re in a good spot now; we’re back to normal. He said, ‘just coach and do what you do well.’ … In the end everybody was on the same page and everybody had each other’s back.”
Said McGarity: “I’m glad Jack’s back on the deck coaching our teams. As I told our team from Day 1, our objective was to get back to normal as soon as possible. We were able to do that in late December, and everybody’s glad to see Jack back. And our friendship remains strong.”
Now comes the matter of a rather significant meet. Facing Texas is the perfect starting point for what Bauerle hopes will be remembered as a tiny ripple in the water of an illustrious career.
Not only are the Longhorns a formidable foe — their men are ranked No. 1 to Georgia’s No. 3 and their women No. 6 to the Bulldogs’ No. 2 — but men’s coach Eddie Reese is Bauerle’s closest friend in the business and their women’s coach, Carol Capitani, served as his assistant for 16 years.
There also is the weighty matter of the women’s team’s home winning streak. They’ve won 92 in a row inside the Gabrielson Natatorium.
“It’s exactly what it’s supposed to be,” Bauerle said with a grin. “There are so many ironies to this. Looking down the road, I just didn’t know it was going to happen like this.”
