USA Swimming announced Thursday that Bob Vincent will be taking over as interim CEO as Shana Ferguson joins the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games staff.
Ferguson was initially named interim CEO last August, taking over leadership duties following the departure of Tim Hinchey, who held the role for seven years before being let go last summer, as USA Swimming began searching for its next permanent CEO.
In February, USA Swimming announced Chrissi Rawak, the Athletics Director at the University of Delaware, as its new CEO, only to reveal her withdrawal from the role nine days later.
Ferguson, who has been at USA Swimming since 2019, serving as Chief Commercial Officer and then Chief Operating Officer, was then re-named the interim CEO after Rawak’s resignation, holding the role for an additional month before today’s announcement that she’s headed to LA28, where she’ll serve as the Chief of Sport and Games Delivery.
“Shana Ferguson is a uniquely talented leader who has made innumerable contributions to USA Swimming,” said Chris Brearton, USA Swimming Board Chair.
“She was instrumental in the success of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, onboarding numerous new partners to the Olympic movement, and countless strategic business initiatives, and we are grateful for her commitment to our sport and the success and wellbeing of our athletes. We wish her the best in her next chapter and look forward to working with her at LA28.”
Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), added: “I am thrilled to congratulate Shana Ferguson on her new role as Chief of Sport and Games Delivery for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
“It’s awesome to see her apply the skills and experiences gained at USA Swimming to this monumental event. This transition showcases her remarkable talent and highlights the importance of knowledge transfer as we build a strong ecosystem of sports professionals in the United States. I also want to express my gratitude to Bob Vincent for his dedicated service to USA Swimming during this pivotal time.”
Vincent, the former Chair of the USA Swimming Board of Directors (BOD), takes over as interim CEO, effective April 1, as the organization continues its search for its next permanent CEO.
USA Swimming is reportedly down to two candidates, one male and one female, for the full-time replacement.
“I am honored to step into the role of Interim CEO and help lead USA Swimming at this important moment,” said Vincent. “I have witnessed firsthand the dedication and passion of our athletes, coaches, officials, volunteers, and staff, and I look forward to working closely with each of them while I serve in this role. The organization is poised for continued success, and I am eager to start engaging with the team in this new leadership capacity.”
Vincent served as Chairman of the BOD from 2018 until 2021, and also had a stint as Board Treasurer from 2016 until 2018. He will resign from his current role on the BOD to assume the interim CEO position until his planned retirement once a new permanent leader is selected.
“We are extremely pleased to welcome Bob Vincent as Interim CEO and are thankful for his willingness to take on this service to the organization before his retirement, as we continue our work to support our members and prepare for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games,” Brearton said.
USA Swimming said Vincent will focus on “maintaining momentum for key strategic initiatives and events,” during his time as interim CEO, including the upcoming World Championships in Singapore, and he’ll play a key role in the ongoing search or the next National Team Managing Director.
Lindsay Mintenko, the former National Team Director, resigned from her post around the same time Hinchey was let go last August.
In addition to Vincent moving into the interim CEO role, USA Swimming also announced that Brearton, former Vice Chair Kathy Fish, and University of Texas Director of Swimming and former head Olympic coach Bob Bowman will be joining the CEO Task Force that’s searching for the next permanent CEO.
Breaton, Fish and Bowman will “help guide a refreshed evaluation of candidates,” USA Swimming said, after the previous appointment of Rawak didn’t work out as planned.
Shortly after Rawak was announced as USA Swimming’s new CEO, a SafeSport complaint was raised against her relating to her conduct while she was a coach at the University of Michigan in the 1990s. This led to Rawak’s withdrawal from the role nine days after her appointment.
Don’t let them say they did a great job of vetting Rawak!!! Every swimmer and coach knew she was having an affair with a swimmer!! It sounds like a Trumpy excuse! They failed us!
Shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic…
No better example of servant leadership than Bob Vincent… very grateful for everything that Bob has done for the sport thus far, and blessed that he (and Erin, and Murphy) are willing to give of his time and talents to guide the ship through this.
“USA Swimming is reportedly down to two candidates, one male and one female, for the full-time replacement.”
Obviously, despite Shana’s experience, expertise and consistency at the helm through this challenging period since Hinchey and Mintenko’s exits, she still wasn’t in the running. Who can blame her for finding greener pastures?
Yeah, I would have been out the door, too.
This.
Wait, USA Swimming’s Board is placing Bob Bowman–who sent inapprpriate text messages to a female swimmer in 2011 (about her brother)–on a Task Force to search for replacement of a CEO hire who left after less than a week because of a Safe Sport allegation? Not to mention the huge conflict of interest of Bowman currently coaching at Olympic level some of the world’s best non-American swimmers. Clown show continues.
Arizona Republic Obtains, Publishes Bowman-Burckle Text Messages
http://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/24190987/former-us-swim-coach-bob-bowman-apologizes-sexually-graphic-text-messages
That’s pretty much what’s going on.
Thanks for sharing this article. I missed it when it came out. A lot of other coaches would not have been able to keep their job after something like this
have said this for years, no matter who Bob has coached, he should have been held accountable for those actions. Joking or not, they were incredibly inappropriate and I am sure Clark did not appreciate them and imagine how awkward it made it for him to be on the same pool deck.
Crazy right?!
Did Bowman send the texts, or was it the lowlife he was with?
Bob sent them. He then tried to claim that only Sean Hutchinson was being a pervert, and he was just talking about college recruiting.
In fact, that excuse was so bad that it’s probably what got him placed on a USA Swimming search committee.
I want Julian Casablacas
Ira Klein is clearly the obvious choice here.
🤡.