Two-time Paralympian Monica Vaughan and early chair of Women in Sport has been awarded an OBE today as part of the King’s Birthday Honours.
Monica competed at the Toronto 1976 and Arnhem 1980 Games, winning 11 medals in swimming and volleyball. She was the first amputee swimmer to compete in the Paralympic Games and won gold in all four swimming strokes.
Monica swam competitively against non-disabled athletes throughout her early and teenage years for Portsmouth Northsea Swimming Club, first making headlines when she was disqualified in a gala for not moving her legs “together and simultaneously” in Butterfly – which was impossible for her to do. The resulting outrage in the local press indirectly led to her Paralympic success and to a change in the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) rules, which still stands to this day.
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. Considering that Butterfly swimming has such dependency on the upper body and that Monica was 5’4” tall, this shows what a truly exceptional swimmer she was.
Despite being one of GB’s most successful Paralympians, Monica’s incredible achievements still went largely unrecognised. She received no fanfare, no anthem and little to no press interest when she returned home. Instead of a being hailed a trailblazer in swimming, she was described as ‘the brave one-legged girl’. Rather than been cheered off the plane on arrival back in the UK, she was sent off to support some male athletes on their onward flight, because she was a qualified nurse.
Fired up to support other women and disabled people to widen participation in sport, Monica worked in disability sport and was chair of Women in Sport between 1990-1993. 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.
Women in Sport Chief Executive Stephanie Hilborne OBE said: “We are thrilled that Monica Vaughan has finally been recognised with an Honour, both for her incredible sporting achievements and for her contribution to women’s and disability sport. Monica had an extraordinary impact on our charity in her time as chair, overseeing ground-breaking research and initiatives which helped to lay the foundations for today’s huge successes in women’s sport. Congratulations – and thank you – to Monica.”
