USA Swimming announced on Tuesday that Olympian Brent Lang had been elected as the Chair of the USA Swimming Board of Directors effective immediately.
Lang was unanimously elected by the board, and will serve a four-year term until September of 2029. He will take over the Chair role vacated by Natalie Coughlin, who stepped down from her position late last month, saying, “I believe this is the right moment in time for me to step aside.”
Olympian and NCAA Champion for the University of Michigan, Lang has experience on the elite swimming side of the sport, and he also has experience in executive leadership. He recently served on the USA Gymnastics Board of Directors from 2018 to 2024, helping the organization as they restructured and reset to focus on “athlete well-being and transparency”.
In 1988, he swam on the United States Olympic Team, where he won a gold medal as a member of the 400 freestyle relay, and during his time at the University of Michigan, he was a four-time NCAA Champion, twice in the 50 free (1989, 1990) and twice in the 100 free (1988, 1990).
Lang said “I’m honored to serve as Board Chair and to help guide USA Swimming through this next phase of growth and opportunity. Our organization is at an exciting inflection point with the LA28 Games on the horizon and a deep well of talent across our athletes, coaches, and staff. My goal is to ensure that the Board operates with unity, focus, and transparency while keeping athlete development and long-term vision at the heart of every decision. Together, we can continue to strengthen the foundation of our sport and position USA Swimming for sustained success well into the future.”
New CEO Kevin Ring said “Brent is an incredible leader who brings a unique mix of business insight, athlete perspective, and governance to this role. As an Olympian and a seasoned executive, he knows what it takes to drive success in and out of the pool. His leadership and thoughtful approach will help guide USA Swimming through its next phase of growth.”
Coughlin’s resignation also required a few other organizational changes. Maya DiRado Andrews was appointed to finish Coughlin’s term as an athlete representative on the BOD after her previous term was up in September.
Lilly King and Nic Fink also received positions with King being elected the chairperson of the Athlete Advisory Council and Nic Fink being elected as vice chair. King will be the first person other than Caitlin Leverenz-Smith to hold the position since the AAC’s creation in 2021.
surprised that comment field is so sparse given how passionate readers were @ previous reporting on the board & CEO
I think everyone was mainly excited to see the departure of people who we all knew to be doing poorly in their positions. Know one knows how these new people are going to do yet.
swimswam staff jumping for joy at a thrift store parking lot.
Resume checks out. Good luck!
It’s even better resume than SwimSwam posted! He is the real deal
Wishing all these new leaders the best. Let’s hope we have the right folks in place now.