3 Coaches Are Among 4 New Members of USA Swimming Board of Directors

USA swimming has announced the results of the 2019-2020 Board of Director elections deciding the 4 new members on the 15-member Board of Directors.

The top 4 vote getters each received a spot on the Board of Directors, with the top 2 vote getters, Prindle and Schalz, receiving 4 year terms.

• Kathleen Prindle – 4-year term
• Bill Schalz – 4-year term
• Kenneth Chung – 3-year term
• Jennifer Gibson – 3-year term

Schalz, the owner of the Academy Bullets Swim Club in Illinois, checked both boxes needed by the group of 4 to align with their new governance policies in that he’s both a coach and represents the Central Zone. He was the only nominee that satisfied both requirements.

• Read about all 9 nominees here.

Of the new members of the Board of Directors, 2 are women and 2 are men. The Board of Directors now has 6 women and 9 men in total among its members, as compared to 5 women and 10 men last year (after Teri McKeever was appointed to replace Jim Wood when the latter died). All 4 athlete member positions on the board have continuing terms from their election last season.

The new elected individuals include three veteran coaches in Schalz (Academy Bullets), Gibson (Swim Fort Lauderdale), and Prindle (Performance Aquatics). Prindle also has a lot of outside-of-the-sport experience as a senior executive in the fashion industry, including 10 years as the Director of International Sales for the Liz Claiborne brand.

Chung is the outlier as a non-coach. He works as a meet referee and as an official with his children’s swim club, but his primary vocation is as the Executive Vice President of Commercial Insurance at Chubb Group. With a number of past and pending lawsuits against USA Swimming related to its handling of abusive coaches, the organization’s insurance policies have been under a spotlight over the last decade.

They will replace:

• John Bradley (2015-2019)
• John Roy (2014-2019)
• Mary Turner (2015-2019)
• Dale Ammon (2017-2019)

Returning voting members of the Board of Directors:

• Chris Brearton
• Natalie Coughlin Hall (athlete rep)
• Maya DiRado (athlete rep)
• Dr. Cecil Gordon
• Jeanette Skow
• Davis Tarwater Vice Chair (athlete rep)
• Jay Thomas
• Tom Ugast Vice Chair – Fiscal Oversight
• Robert Vincent – Board Chair; Chair, National Team Steering Committee
• Jim Sheehan
• Teri McKeever

Biographies of new members of Board of Directors, courtesy: USA Swimming

• Prindle currently serves on the Florida Gold Coast Local Swimming Committee (LSC) Board of Directors (Finance Chair, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Chair), USA Swimming’s Senior Development National Committee, the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) Board of Directors (Vice President), and the Florida State High School Athletic Association Advisory Board (past Chair). Corporately, Prindle has held multiple senior executive roles within New York City’s fashion industry. Since 1989, Prindle has promoted aquatics across the Eastern Seaboard by launching nine Learn-to-Swim programs, two USA Swimming club teams, two U.S. Masters teams and recreational programming. She is also an incredibly skilled and accomplished coach.
• Schalz has served on the Club Development, Olympic International Organizing and International Relations Committees and chaired the Governance Task Force. He, along with his wife Robin, founded the Academy Bullets Swim Club, which now has 600 swimmers, and accompanying swim school.
• Chung is currently an Executive Vice President of Commercial Insurance at Chubb Group. He has over 38 years in performing various underwriting, risk management and leadership roles, has successfully managed sizable portfolios with responsibility for profit & loss, and coached and developed staff. Kenneth served on the Friends of Wellesley College Athletics National Committee to provide invaluable support for student athletes. He has also served as Board member, Treasurer and later Board Chair, for Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics (LEAP), a national nonprofit organization with the core strategic approach of developing people, informing society and empowering communities. Chung is a meet referee who has worked in New England and North Texas. Chung also serves as the North Texas LSC DEI Chair.
• As an active USA Swimming coach since 1983, Gibson has coached in multiple LSC’s around the country while working with top programs. Following college at Ball State University, she began coaching in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and continued there for the first 18 years of her career. Additionally, she coached in Charlotte, N.C.; Phoenix, Ariz. and for the last eight years in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Gibson’s USA Swimming experience includes: Age Group coach (36 years), parent of a swimmer, High School/Summer League coach, LSC Board Member, National Team International Team Manager, and ASCA board member.