By Retta Race on SwimSwam
Get your news fix on happenings outside the pool with the latest ‘Beyond the Lane Lines.’ With each edition, we collect personal stories, little-known facts, and general items of interest from around the world. Read on and learn something new this week.
#1 Monica Vaughan Receives OBE
British Paralympic champion Monica Vaughan received the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) earlier this month.
Vaughan competed at the 1976 Paralympic Games in Toronto and the 1980 Paralympic Games in Arnhem, where she collected nine gold medals in swimming.
She was the first amputee swimmer to compete in the Paralympic Games and won gold in all four swimming strokes.
The race times that Monica Vaughan swam in the 100m Butterfly at both the 1976 and 1980 Paralympics would have won her a Silver in the same men’s events. (Women in Sport)
Once her career ended in the pool, Vaughan worked in disability sport and was chair of Women in Sport from 1990 to 1993.
In her time, Women in Sport fundraised £100k for a sports award supporting women from inner cities, schools, community groups, disabled young people and promising talents, and developed syllabus guides for teachers and organised career fairs for women interested in working in sport.
#2 Updates on Utah 2034
Last month, the organizing committee of the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games revealed ‘Utah 2034’ as the official name of the Games. The move was made to reflect the fact that multiple cities and venues will be hosting sporting events over the course of the Games, including the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns (speed skating), Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Midway (biathlon, cross-country skiing) and Snowbasin Resort in Ogden (alpine skiing).
Additionally, a new logo and website for Utah 2034 were released, giving fans access to gear more than eight years ahead of the Games. utah2034shop.com
“From our capital of Salt Lake City out to every corner of our state, the Utah 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will be shared by all Utahns,” said organizing committee President and Executive Chair Fraser Bullock. “We are all Utahns together! Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together.”
“The Utah 2034 wordmark tells the story of the state of Utah and the athletes who will compete in 2034,” said Vice Chair Steve Starks. “The unique characters of Utah 2034 are embodied in it with shapes and angles reminiscent of the landforms of the American West, as well as those of athletes in action.” (Utah 2034)
#3 UMBC Athletic Director & University Reach Settlement
We reported in August of 2024 that former University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) athletic director Brian Barrio was bringing a federal lawsuit against the school, alleging he was wrongly terminated in April as the scapegoat for ex-swim coach Chad Cradock‘s sexual misconduct.
In March of 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice found that UMBC violated Title IX by failing to address sexual abuse allegations relating to Cradock. The DOJ conducted an extensive investigation into allegations that Cradock sexually harassed male swimmers and discriminated against female swimmers dating back to 2015, and concluded that UMBC’s “failures allowed the former head coach to exploit his power over student-athletes, prey on student-athletes’ vulnerabilities and engage in egregious and ongoing abuse spanning many years.”
It only took Barrio a few months working at UMBC before he suspended Cradock, who died by suicide in 2021 after resigning as head coach in 2020.
However, that same month, the school dismissed Barrio from his position. The day before the firing, UMBC President Valerie Sheares Ashby released a statement saying the university “reset the Athletics Department’s structure, governance, and reporting mechanisms, starting with making the athletic director a direct report to me.” She also said that those who did not enforce Title IX procedures would be held accountable.
According to Barrio, that statement implied that his dismissal was connected to UMBC’s restructuring of the athletics department and that he was among the parties responsible for violating Title IX. He argued that the representations prevented him from continuing his career after his firing. (The Baltimore Sun)
Flash forward to December 2025 and Barrio and the university have reportedly reached an out-of-court settlement.
“Today’s settlement finally vindicates me and allows me to move on after a long and difficult period,” Barrio said in a statement. “It was important for the record to reflect that I handled this situation with integrity and with care for students. This settlement brings closure for me and for my family, and I hope it underscores the importance of supporting those who take the right actions when faced with misconduct in the workplace and encourages others to speak up and take action if they are faced with a similar situation.” (The Baltimore Sun)
#4 Grand Slam Track Files for Bankruptcy
Grand Slam Track, the athletics league founded by Olympic champion Michael Johnson, filed for bankruptcy last month.
The league originally offered six-figure prize money for top runners; however, the organization’s final event was cancelled amidst failing to pay athletes and vendors.
Johnson boasted a $30 million bankroll at the outset, but in its Chapter 11 filing Thursday in Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, the league said it had less than $50,000 cash on hand, had between 200 and 999 creditors, and owed between $10 million and $50 million. (ESPN)
This was after a handful of the start-up’s existing investors have provided the league with up to eight figures of emergency financing, a source close to Grand Slam tells FOS.
The funding was not enough to cover all of the league’s debts, which are about $11 million owed to athletes and roughly $8 million owed to vendors.
The money also saves a few jobs: Grand Slam has fewer than 10 remaining employees, whose salaries will be covered by the emergency financing. (FOS)
“I refuse to give up on the mission of Grand Slam Track and the future we are building together,” Johnson said in a news release announcing the bankruptcy filing.
The announcement harkens to the aquatic world’s International Swimming League (ISL), the currently defunct league, which last month floated a revival in 2026 or 2027.
The ISL ran for three seasons, beginning with a seven-meet schedule in 2019 before hosting expanded 13- and 18-event schedules in 2020 and 2021. In 2022, the league canceled its fourth season following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and never resumed operations. Many athletes say they still have not received their full promised payouts from the league.
#5 USC Football Potentially Headed to SoFi
In a previous edition of Beyond the Lane Lines, we reported that the 2028 Olympic Games are set to see a temporary track installed at the University of Southern California’s Coliseum. That means the school’s NCAA football program will most likely not see a true home game played during that year’s season.
The Coliseum has been utilized in past U.S.-hosted Olympic Games, including in 1932 and 1984.According to The Sports Examiner, the facility’s seating bowl has been continuously modified with multiple renovations, including in 1993 when the 1984 Olympic track was removed to install 14 rows of seats – about 8,000 – closer to the football field.
If USC football truly cannot compete at the Coliseum, it would be for the first time since 1923.
“USC and LA28 are working in lockstep on all logistics for the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” USC athletics spokesperson Cody Worsham said in a statement. “We will share details with the public when they are finalized.” (LA Times)
SoFi Stadium officials declined to comment when asked about USC’s possible move to the venue in 2028.
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