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≡ PHELPS’ CALL TO ACTION ≡
“As an initial step forward, I would propose the following next steps to the USA Swimming Board of Directions and USA Swimming staff:
“1. Commission a 360º independent review of USA Swimming’s Board of Directors and its organization as a whole. Provide complete transparency in this process.
“2. Streamline athlete services and develop a proactive, athlete-first way to support athletes competing in the sport. While USA Swimming and the USOPC provide some athlete resources, there needs to be a better way to work directly with athletes to implement what’s available to them.
“3. Focus on strengthening the grassroots level of the sport, reversing its pandemic membership decline while developing new ways to foster additional growth.
“I offer up my service to be a resource in these proposed initial steps and I am hopeful that the USA Swimming community will accept my offer.
“My door is open and there is work to be done.”
That’s the finish of a length statement posted by Olympic icon Michael Phelps, now 40, on Instagram on Wednesday, following up his comments during the World Aquatics Championships, centering his focus on the sport’s leadership:
“First, I must be clear that I have the utmost respect for the U.S. swimmers that competed at the World Championships. My criticism is in no way directed at them – I know how hard they work and how honored they are to represent the U.S. National Team. My criticism is about the system, its leadership, and how it’s failing.
“There have always been cracks in the system but in the last nine years, I’ve seen those cracks grow. In 2016, I had the honor to be a part of a U.S. swim team in Rio that was arguably the most successful in the sport’s history and we won 57% of the medals we had the opportunity to win. Fast forward eight years to Paris, where Team USA won only 44% of the medals they had the opportunity to win in the pool, the lowest percentage the sport had seen since the 1988 Olympics.
“I’ve asked myself what’s changed in our sport and the answer is clear…this isn’t on the athletes as they continue to do the best they can with what they’ve been given. This is on the leadership of USA Swimming. Poor leadership trickles down and can impact an organization at every level.
“I spent most of my life inside of a system that is supposed to support athletes. I gave it my everything, but I often felt that my voice went unheard. I was told to be grateful for the chance to compete and that it was more important to stay quiet and to keep the peace.”
He added:
“No one really wants to talk about how broken USA Swimming has become.
“But, if we don’t talk about it, it won’t get fixed.
“Money is a factor. But poor operational controls and weak leadership are a cornerstone of the sport’s problems. …
“I still care and I’m not ready to give up.
“I don’t have all the answers, but I know this: we need accountability. We need transparency. We need athlete voices at the center, not in the margins.
“We need systemic change.”
Phelps has offered his help; his post followed a lengthy message from triple Olympic gold medalist and NBC analyst Rowdy Gaines on 7 August, which included:
“This isn’t about throwing stones at the athletes. Far from it. I’ve spent the last 50 years as one of their biggest cheerleaders. But both Michael and I are saying what many are thinking: something is broken in the way USA Swimming is being run. And if we don’t fix it now, we risk losing the very culture of excellence that built this program in the first place.”
USA Swimming let go of seven-year chief executive Tim Hinchey on 29 August 2024, instituting a search that named University of Delaware athletic director Chrissi Rawak on 19 February 2025. But before she could start – scheduled for 14 March – she withdrew on 28 February.
A new search was instituted, but no new chief executive has been named. USA Swimming hired Stanford coach Greg Meehan as its National Team Director on 11 April, and promoted communications and marketing chief Jake Grosser to Chief Operating Officer on 9 July of this year.
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