University of Utah AD Chris Hill vows to look into allegations aimed at athletics dept.

"This team is going forward without you," is what Fiascone, who at the time was ranked No. 15 in the nation in the 100-meter backstroke, says Winslow told him. Fiascone suspects it was because he reported Winslow's actions to the compliance department.

As for Applin's dismissal, "All he said in my last meeting was I had too many things stacked up against me," Applin said.

Applin, an African-American, filed a complaint with the university's Office of Equal Opportunity after alleging Winslow used a racial slur toward him during a meet in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2010. Applin also says Winslow taped a PVC pipe to his back and made him do "underwaters" in an effort to embarrass him in front of the team.

The OEO investigated the complaint starting in November, and after an investigation that reportedly included more than 50 individuals, concluded in late January that no disciplinary action was needed. When asked by the Deseret News for a copy of the report, the OEO director said she couldn't even confirm that any investigation had taken place.

Another former Ute swimmer, Andy Choi, disputed Applin's claim of being singled out, saying he'd seen Winslow use the PVC pipe training device "multiple times" on various swimmers during his time as a member of the team from 2008 to 2012.

However, Choi did say Winslow made minorities such as himself uncomfortable with some of his comments to the team.

"In terms of racial insensitivity, I am a racial minority and during my tenure, I remember speaking out in practice with a concern that the comments he was making could be construed as racially insensitive," he said.

Rick Mason, who swam for Utah from 2007 to 2011, told the Deseret News that during a trip to Mexico in 2008 he blacked out after doing "underwaters" and was convulsing afterward. His teammates were told by coaches not to help him and he fell and chipped a tooth.

He said his mother was "furious" about what happened and contacted the coaches. After that, Mason said he suffered "verbal abuse" from coach Winslow and "serious negative issues" in his remaining two years on the team.

Two former Utah assistant coaches who resigned in 2012, Charlie King and Lisa Pursley, were contacted by the Deseret News, but both declined to comment about their time at Utah or why they left.

Hill also wouldn't comment on former assistant athletic director Pete Oliszczak, who was directly over the swimming program and had apparently met with parents concerning complaints about Winslow, according to the Yahoo Sports report. Oliszczak abruptly resigned last fall and moved out of state.

"That's a personnel matter," Hill said. "He's moved on and that's all I can tell you."

Even though Winslow is gone, Hill says he will do what's "right" in the aftermath of the allegations made against his athletic department.

"There are some things that happened and the important thing to me is that we do it right and find out what happened, what the athletic department knew, what we need to do about it," Hill said.

Email: sor@desnews.com