Editor’s Note — Jan. 21, 2025, 1:45 pm ET: This article has been updated to reflect accurate numbers for the increase in payroll and benefits as well as commercial and executive spending. The original version of this article stated commercial expenses had gone down 6% from 2024; the executive expenses have gone down 6% while commercial has decreased by 23%.
USA Swimming has published its budget for 2025, which was approved by the Board of Directors at the meeting on December 19. The budget “focuses on the maximum deployment of resources to support our programming while limiting the operational deficit” according to the organization. The 2025 budget for payroll and benefits has increased by $1.2 million, or 10% since 2019.
The organization has reported a balanced budget for 2025, with $39.7 million in revenue and $39.6 million in operating expenses. One of the major changes to the budget this year is that the revenue and expenses for the Golden Goggle Awards have been moved from USA Swimming’s books to the Foundation’s.
The Olympic Effect
2024 was an Olympic year, which brought major changes to last year’s USA Swimming budget. One of the areas this effect was most keenly felt was the National Team support expenses. For example, the organization spent about $1.8 million on the pre-Olympic staging camps, a line item that is not included in the 2025 budget. The organization will, of course, spend money on national team international camps, but the $450,000 budget for those camps this coming year is substantially less.
Overall, the National Team support expenses budget has decreased by 15% from last year. However, as the deducted items have largely come straight off the budget, areas like support for the Junior Team, Open Water, and coaches have increased this year. National Team support represents 26% of USA Swimming’s total operating expenses in 2025, the majority of the organization’s expenses for the year. Sport Deve
The lack of an Olympic Games this year has impacted other types of expenses for USA Swimming, including commercial and executive expenses. Commercial expenses have gone down 23% from 2024 and executive expenses are down 6% from 2024 due to the “lack of Olympic-related programming.” This is reflected in line items like the USA Swimming House and Aqua Zone at Olympic Trials—which USA Swimming projects it spent $235,000 and $1,190,367 on—not being on the budget for 2025.
Comparing To 2022, Another Post-Olympic Year
While the budget for National Team support is down from last year, USA Swimming reports its budget for this type of support is up 22% from 2022, the most recent post-Olympic year. In many ways, the 2022 budget is a better point of comparison for this budget than 2024’s Olympic year spending.
While commercial expenses, which include items like marketing and partnerships, are similar compared to 2022, executive expenses have decreased by 16%. Some line item budgets from the Executive section of the budget have increased from 2022’s actual year-end numbers, like the Board of Directors and Board Chair Travel and Expenses. However, that section has seen a reduction from the International Organizational Relation and Board Governance Consultant. USA Swimming spent $25,314 on International Organizational Relations in 2022 and has a budget of just $2,500 this year. More dramatically, there is no budget for the Board Governance Consultant in 2025, which the organization spent $149,864 on in 2022.
Sport Development
While National Team support is USA Swimming’s biggest expenditure at 26% of the expenses budget, Sport Development is just behind at 25%. This category includes items like LSC support, SafeSport, DEI programs, and support for athletes, coaches, and clubs. This category saw a 7% increase compared to last year, which USA Swimming states are due to increased funding for the National and Zone Select Camps, along with “increased club and coach development support, increased SafeSport programming, and increased DEI support.”
A lack of engagement and connection with coaches was one of the main areas of concern in ASCA’s letter to the USA Swimming Board in August. So too was the decline in membership. USA Swimming projects a 3% membership growth in 2025 from 40 new clubs and 9,970 new members event with a flat membership fee. The $2 annual premium membership rate increase was eliminated by the House of Delegates.
The board projected an expenditure of 1,000 after for the National Select Camps, this year, USA Swimming has budgeted to spend $150,000 on those camps. Notably, there was not a National Select Camp during the 2024 calendar year—the 2023 camp was held in October of that year and the 2024 camp will be held this month. Similarly, the board projected it spent $55,628 on Zone Select Camps in 2024, but has a $80,000 budget for them this year.
The Search For A New CEO
Shana Ferguson has served as the interim CEO of USA Swimming since Tim Hinchey’s departure at the end of August. The organization’s 2025 budget reflects its ongoing search for a new head, as $415,800 of the non-operating budget has been dedicated to “costs associated with CEO transition.”
In 2021, Hinchey made over $1 million, accounting for 2.8% of USA Swimming’s expenses and the second-most for a CEO of a major sports governing body in the U.S. Salaries and benefits for USA Swimming are a separate line item in the administration section of the budget, and not broken out by role.
Also in the non-operating budget, USA Swimming has allocated $100,000 for Race Analysis, up from $0 last year. The “Keeping Athletes First 2.0 Initiative” has also gotten a major bump in funds, from a projected $584,818 in 2024 to a 2025 budget of $990,110.
