Evidence - Interviews

Swimmer at Winona state from 1972-1976, Coached by Roy Rugger for 2 years (1972-1974)

Q: How would you describe Coach Rugger’s style of coaching to someone who has never seen it?

A: I would mainly just describe the lack of coaching, he would tell us to do something in the pool, watch us do it and then scream his head off about how we weren't doing it right. Once we were done he would punish us with conditioning that always ended in someone passing out in the water and needing to be saved. After practice was even worse, he would tell us we need to do extra conditioning to stay in shape for the next meet and then make us do another whole practice’s worth of swimming, while continuing to scream at us all the while. Most days I stayed above water because of the fear of what he would do if I didn’t.

Swimmer at Winona State from September- December 1973, Coached by Ruggers for entire collegiate career

Q:What made you turn down the full ride scholarship and quit the swim team after only one season?

A: The consistent and habitual harassment were simply too much to take for me, it felt as if I was abandoning my teammates but at the same time I mentally and physically couldn't handle that level of abuse. I went to the school about it and while they listened and took all my complaints, they took them very lightly and didn’t seem to actually take any action once they heard about everything he was doing. It wasn’t until long after I reported his actions that anything happened to that evil man.