USA Swimming announced today that Natalie Coughlin would be stepping down as the Chair of the USA Swimming Board of Directors, effective early November.
Coughlin has been a member of the BOD since 2016, when she was appointed as the Team USA Athletes’ Commission Representative until 2021 when she moved to an At-Large Athlete position. In 2023, she was elected as the Vice Chair of the Board before taking over as the Chair last month, replacing Chris Brearton.
Her term as Chair was supposed to last until 2029, running through the Olympic Games in 2028, which will be contested on American soil.
Coughlin said in the press release “The Opportunity to serve USA Swimming and our community has been an incredible honor for me. I first joined the USA Swimming family as an age group swimmer, rose through the sport as a competitive athlete, and ultimately became a long-time member of the National Team. I volunteered for USA Swimming out of immense gratitude for what the sport has done for my life. I wanted to share that knowledge as a contribution back to the sport and actively support its progression moving forward.”
“I’m deeply proud of the work the Board has done in service to all of our athletes, coaches, clubs, and volunteers. I have complete confidence in Kevin Ring‘s vision for the future of USA Swimming and Greg Meehan‘s leadership of the National Team, and I believe this is the right moment in time for me to step aside. While I will continue to volunteer and support the swimming community, I am excited to focus on my family and being a swim mom to my kids.”
Coughlin was a three-time Olympic Champion and won 12 Olympic medals over the course of her career. In 2008, she became the first female athlete in modern Olympic history to win six medals in one Games, and she became the first woman to ever win a 100-meter backstroke gold at two consecutive Olympics.
She swam at Cal, where she won 11 individual NCAA titles and was the NCAA Swimmer of the Year three times. In 2014, she was inducted into Cal’s Hall of Fame.
The news of her resignation comes as the USA Swimming organization, and the BOD in particular, have been facing a lot of criticism in the last year after it took 371 days to hire a new CEO following Tim Hinchey‘s resignation. Early last month, they announced Kevin Ring as the new CEO, and he assumed the position on September 17th.
Ring said “Natalie has been an invaluable leader and ambassador for USA Swimming. Her steady guidance, collaborative spirit, and passion for athlete development have helped strengthen the organization’s governance and long-term strategy. The principles she helped establish will continue to guide the Board and our entire community as we enter this next critical chapter for our sport.”
I enjoyed Natalie on the unfiltered waters podcast. She seems like a well rounded individual.
I wish her the best going forward.
Incredible individual, contributor and of course swimmer. Thank you Natalie.
I don’t blame her for stepping down. Who needs that headache?
Understandable but L for us
Win for us..
Everyone is saying all the right things, as they should. This athlete and board member did in fact give so much to the sport. But change was needed, and she had the class to do it voluntarily.
I respect Natalie but it’s time for a new board. Best wishes to Natalie.
I dont think her swimming results should influence anyones opinion on how she performed as a board member which at this point my conclusion is that she was pretty worthless. Someone maybe can defend her? Did she do anything of value is my question this article doesnt articulate anything
Athlete Partnership Agreement (APA, direct financial support to National Team members) has been flat since 2010 while compensation to executives (the c-suite) has gone up and up. The two do not compare. APA comp is lower than the club assistant coach comp national average. AND, Nat Team coaches were not paid for 45 years. They were paid for the first time this past summer (and USAs will not disclose how much they paid them, which makes me think it’s far too low). USAs earned $50.1M last year, the most in history largely due to Olympic Welfare trickledown considering USAs registration was flat and sponsorships were down. If former national team members on the board cannot and will not advocate for… Read more »
To promote their product. In this instance, wine.
Generally why do athletes have a seat, or Natalie specifically? I’ve found that at different levels of the sport, athletes have a seat that generally means nothing but we get to say the athletes have a seat. I imagine it isn’t much different at the national level. And when they restructured the board, the idea was to get the board out of the way and let the CEO run things. I’m guessing most of the board members took the gig because they weren’t really going to have to do much and it sounded fun.
That time it took forever to comment because the ads kept blocking the text box. And I mean all the ads.
Product promotion she runs her own winery. Multiple swim clinics were held in Napa and featured her own wine.
This observation isn’t a criticism, it’s simply an example of how personal and professional interests can align. From my experience serving and working on boards for over 25 years, I’ve found that many boards tend to be largely ceremonial. In most cases, their main functions are to approve budgets and help limit liability rather than take on active operational roles.
Baseless conclusion. Easy to say someone was worthless but not back it up.
Basis for the conclusion: https://swimswam.com/american-swimming-celebrates-1-year-without-a-full-time-ceo/
Coughlin swimmer >>> Coughlin Board President