Harrowing allegations against former University of Maryland – Baltimore County (UMBC) head swim coach Chad Cradock surfaced Monday following his sudden death in March 2021.
According to a report from the Baltimore Sun, UMBC launched an investigation into Cradock in late 2020 after numerous swimmers made reports of misconduct.
Students told university officials that Cradock inappropriately touched male swimmers, discriminated against female members of the team and mishandled Title IX reports, according to the Baltimore Sun.
Cradock, who had been ordered by the school to have no contact with student-athletes and stay off campus amidst the investigation weeks earlier, abruptly resigned in December 2020. He then received a notice of investigation from UMBC on Dec. 24, 2020, and an amended version with two additional swimmers’ allegations on March 3, 2021, according to the Sun.
Four days after receiving the amended notice, the university was told that Cradock had died by suicide.
The investigation continued in the time since, and a final investigative report was completed on July 11 by attorneys from an outside law firm hired by UMBC. The firm found that Cradock engaged in sexual harassment and created a hostile environment during his time as coach, violating the university’s discrimination policy.
The investigation has now concluded.
The former coach allegedly touched numerous male swimmers in their genitals, investigators found. Witnesses and victims described a pattern in which Cradock would ask swimmers to touch his shoulder or take their temperature for COVID protocols and then use his other arm to assault them. According to the 105-page final report, six male swimmers that were interviewed reported being touched in the genitals or buttocks.
Several male swimmers also reported Cradock’s hugs from behind while they were wearing only their Speedos, along with attempted kisses and unwanted touching of their stomachs or chests, the report said.
Swimmers also said that Cradock would base his coaching on which swimmers would “play along and participate in the unwelcome contact.”
“If Coach Cradock was not allowed to do what he wanted to you, he wasn’t going to coach you,” one swimmer said, per an interview in the report according to The Sun.
The behavior was minimized around the team by referring to this behavior as “just Chad.”
“I felt powerless to do anything about it,” one swimmer told The Sun regarding Cradock’s harassment. “I have to live with this really dark secret that’s the undertone of my four years. I don’t think I can ever have a normal college experience.”
The Sun also says that swimmers have been interviewed by U.S. Department of Justice civil rights investigators looking into the university and if it complied with federal rules barring gender discrimination in education.
Swimmers also reportedly told investigators that Cradock was “disengaged” with the women’s team, with a lack of attention at practices, less sympathetic treatment for injuries and different of team enforcement of team rules all mentioned in interviews in the report.
Investigators also found that Cradock created a hostile environment based on sex within the team, alleging his failure to report things such as sexual misconduct, assault, stalking or relationship violence.
Swimmers also spoke of how Cradock created a “one-way funnel” where the athletes would only bring issues to him, not upper university officials. At least two swimmers allege that he discouraged them from making reports to the university.
Oana Brooks, Cradock’s attorney, declined to comment but raised concerns about the investigation continuing after Cradock’s death. The investigators deemed the allegations were “sufficiently serious” for it to continue.
It is currently unclear what UMBC is facing regarding the Justice Department’s Title IX investigation, though it’s possible a monetary settlement will be reached along with mandated improvement measures, like those instated in the recent case at San Jose State.
UMBC is also under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education relating to a sexual violence report, though it’s unclear if that relates to the swim team and Cradock.
The Justice Department investigation is expected to examine UMBC’s response to the allegations against Cradock, while swimmers are currently considering their options regarding any potential lawsuits.
Attorney Rignal Baldwin V represents five of the six swimmers named in the report.
“UMBC’s Title IX process prioritizes the school’s reputation over student safety,” Baldwin said, according to The Sun. “Until that changes, no amount of procedural reform will make a difference.”
Cradock, who was 47 at the time of his death, was the head coach of the swimming & diving team at UMBC for 19 seasons, having begun his tenure back in 2001. The team won numerous America East Conference titles during his tenure, including four consecutive men’s and four of the last six women’s at the time of his resignation.
the truth always comes out.
There’s a logical fallacy happening here a lot in the comments. It’s called “affirming a disjunct” and it’s why this either/or logic is silly. Chad can be friendly and warm while doing these horrible things. Many people can have a positive experience with him while others had terrible ones. Likewise, many people can be unaware of these happenings while for others, it shaped their entire experiences. Let’s not let our emotions shape our arguments. It’s fine to argue, but don’t invalidate someone else’s experience with elementary logic 🙂
So just to clear things up… certain alumni commenting on this post are claiming that nothing ever happened just because it didn’t happen to them? Even though they weren’t on the team when some of this misconduct occurred?
And that they know better and are smarter than legal professionals hired by the university to investigate for over 2 years that spoke to coaching staff, former athletes, current athletes, and university employees AND the US Department of Justice?
Hm ok… that’s very odd. Seems like they can’t come to grips that the man they knew and loved could be so horrific to others despite evidence being proven.
GOT EM! Finally someone said it…
No one needs to hear each other’s opinions. Family’s read this, the victims read this, have some respect
You just gave your opinion.
Just paid the $1 to read the Baltimore Sun article… the culture and behaviors described in that article sound eerily similar to the culture etc fostered by Cradock’s mentor and predecessor when he was coaching HS before moving up to UMBC. If that continued at UMBC, Cradock learned from the best. Worst. Sorry for those kids and sorry for his family…
Insane to me – as a fellow America East swammer – the UMBC swimmers always seemed to love their coach. I guess you never really know what the true story is. Sad for the victims and hope they get the help they need to move forward.
Couple of observations.
1. There are a lot of degenerates out there, and it’s disconcerting how many find their way into our sport.
2. This quote makes no sense to me.
“I felt powerless to do anything about it,” one swimmer told The Sun regarding Cradock’s harassment.”
What? Why? I mean, universities have entire bureaucracies committed just to investigating things like this. They need something to do, and I would think that a few words from a swimmer or two would be all it would take. So why did the swimmer feel “powerless”?
Same reason why SA victims may not report their abuser, why students may not report their teacher, why children may not report their parents. Power dynamics, the backlash you may receive when reporting, and the potential that no one will believe you. Read the whole article. There are still people to this day in this comment section who are discounting the reports that were made.
The UMBC community was still reeling from accusations that their administration covered up sex crimes. So, even if the university did have a Title IX office, students may have had reason not to trust them. More info here: https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/more-women-come-forward-amid-umbc-baltimore-county-cover-up-allegations/
Coaches hold a great deal of power over swimmers, and the report found that the coach, “created a hostile environment.” The victims were at the losing end of a power imbalance.
You saw the report?
Pieces of the report are quoted in the Baltimore Sun article and the SwimSwam article.
There are multiple witnesses of a few specific swimmers asking alumni and teammates to lie about Cradock leading up to this lawsuit. I wonder why, if this account is true, there are only 5 current swimmers willing to speak against a coach that has been heavily involved in the lives of more than a thousand athletes over 20 years.
There are only 6 swimmers who were brave enough to be named. There were dozens and dozens of teammates who corroborated stories and were interviewed even though they were not part of the 6 named.
How do you know that?