10 employees of USA Swimming have accepted “voluntary separation packages,” a spokesperson confirmed to SwimSwam on Tuesday. This is one of a number of “cost reduction initiatives” that USA Swimming has taken since the start of the global coronavirus pandemic in an effort to reduce its expenses.
“Since the pandemic started, the executive team has taken several proactive steps to strategically reduce budgets and uncover cost savings where possible,” the spokesperson said. “We continue to update forecasting models as information becomes available and have focused on protecting employees as best possible from the COVID-19 pandemic, both from a health and financial perspective.”
USA Swimming emphasized that all of the organization’s employees were offered the same terms to their packages, with the actual amounts varying based on years of service, and that 10 out of the organization’s 91 employees accepted the offer. This is an addition to Mitch Dalton, the former National Junior Team Director, who took a position at the University of Texas. USA Swimming says some of those positions will be filled when more details about the financial future are known, and that some may not.
SwimSwam has been provided with a few of the names that accepted the packages from various sources, but USA Swimming has said that they will share the complete list in the coming days after making all of the announcements internally. The package offer period came to a close on Friday, June 12.
In an interview done early in the pandemic, USA Swimming CEO Tim Hinchey said the organization had lost money related to the postponement of the Olympic Games and was also working to soften the commercial blow to their partners related to the pandemic. Most of USA Swimming‘s club dues and individual membership dues would have already been collected for the year before the shutdown, though those revenue streams will likely be impacted in the new year.
In spite of those revenue challenges, USA Swimming announced a distribution of almost $1.5 million in late May, with another $1.5 million, at least, on the way.
This is what happens when people like Chuck Wielgus, his inner circle, his staff and the USA Swimming board members (past and present) that covered up for child molesters and were indifferent to sexual abuse of their own athletes. Innocent people will be paying for these sins for years to come.
This corrupt organization has wasted millions of dollars of membership money for years and because of that they’re not in the position to financially assist hurting clubs during this crises and they’re being forced to cut staff. Hopefully, they’re trimming fat and not getting rid of hard workers that actually care about the members USA Swimming is supposed to serve. I’m convinced, due to his poor performance as Executive Director, that Tim Hinchey should have been #1 on that list.
We are losing some integral staff members who actually care about club swimming and are willing to listen to coaches.
The staff/ swimming community also recently experienced a major loss with the passing of Gina Mensay.
Got a call from one of them today…. he will be surely missed. Knowing how hard the staff works, the hours, the travel, many thanks everyone… hope other folks appreciate the work, I sure do
Amen.
Maybe Hinchey should take a pay cut
Hinchey can take Lucinda McRoberts with him when he goes. McRoberts is wildly overpaid since her only job is to fire people for Hinchey. Talk about most disliked and not respected member among staff.
You’re right. McRoberts is one of those lawyers from the Cave/Bryan law firm, formerly Holme Robert & Owen, that sold USA Swimming, USA Gymnastics and other governing bodies down the river by mismanaging and providing terrible representation in the sexual abuse cover-ups and lawsuits. She’s a terrible person and lawyer just like her predecessor Rich Young.