Tax filings from 2021 show that USA Swimming CEO Tim Hinchey ranks as one of the top earners among national governing body (NGB) leaders over the past couple years.
USA Swimming paid Hinchey $1.037 million in 2021, or about 2.8% of its revenue that year ($37 million). That appears to be a larger proportion than every major NGB except for the big outlier, USA Track and Field, which paid CEO Max Siegel a whopping $3.8 million in 2021 — triple his earnings from the previous year — after bringing in $33.7 million in revenue.
Siegel drew criticism in November as his salary accounted for more than 11% of USA Track and Field’s annual revenue, but he defended his income by noting that $2.5 million was from deferred compensation and that he won’t receive any more deferred pay going forward.
If NFL commissioner Roger Goodell made the same salary as a percentage of organizational revenue as USATF CEO Max Siegel did in 2021, he would have been paid $1.9 billion last year. https://t.co/kZ1IUoSbNd
— Jonathan Gault (@jgault13) November 29, 2022
Nevertheless, even if Siegel gets the benefit of the doubt and we count $1.3 million as his salary for 2021, it still accounts for a larger proportion of his organization’s revenue than any other major NGB we found. But Hinchey and USA Swimming aren’t far behind in terms of CEO compensation.
Most CEOs of sports NGBs that bring in less than $50 million annually make less than $500,000. USA Swimming and USA Track & Field sit at the top end of the revenue range for that group. USA Soccer paid sporting director Earnie Stewart $825,720 and paid head coach Gregg Berhalter $1.32 million in 2021, but with the organization’s annual revenue at $64.9 million, those salaries amount to 1.3% and 2% as a proportion. USA Tennis executive director Michael Douse earned $1.4 million in 2021, but that was just .4% of the organization’s revenue ($335 million).
CEO Salaries at Major US Sports NGBs
| NGB | Revenue | CEO Salary | Salary as % of Revenue |
| USA Track and Field | $33.7 million | Max Siegel, $1.3 million ($3.8 million including deferred payments) | 3.8% (or 11.3% if you also count deferred payments) |
| USA Swimming | $37 million | Tim Hinchey, $1.037 million | 2.8% |
| USA Soccer | $64.9 million | Head coach Gregg Berhalter, $1.32 million; sporting director Earnie Stewart, $825,720 | 2% for Berhalter, 1.3% for Stewart |
| USA Basketball | $26.7 million | Jim Tooley, $467, 714 | 1.7% |
| USA Gymnastics | $23.6 million | Li Li Leung, $410,967 | 1.7% |
| US Equestrian Federation | $25.8 million | William Moroney, $436,298 | 1.7% |
| USA Volleyball | $37.1 million | Jamie Davis, $488,951 | 1.3% |
| USA Hockey | $42.7 million | Executive director Patrick Kelleher, $415,386 | 1% |
| USA Ski and Snowboard | $27.3 million | Tiger Shaw, $168,484 | .6% |
| USA Tennis | $335 million | Executive director Michael Douse, $1.4 million | .4% |
Note: Financial data from USA Track and Field, USA Swimming, USA Soccer, and USA Tennis are from the fiscal year 2021; USA Basketball, USA Gymnastics, USA Hockey, USA Ski and Snowboard, and US Equestrian Federation are from 2020; and USA Volleyball is from 2019.
USA Tennis and USA Soccer make a lot of their money from televised sporting events, whereas NGBs such as USA Swimming and USA Track and Field rely more on membership dues and sponsorships for revenue.
For reference, U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland earned just over $1 million in 2021, which accounts for just .2% of the organization’s $459 million in revenue that year.
Revenue is often considered the most significant factor in determining CEO pay. According to Excelling in Giving, a philanthropic advisory firm, a CEO at a smaller nonprofit ($500,000 to $1 million in annual expenses) makes $84,674 on average while a CEO at a large nonprofit (over $50 million in annual expenses) makes $402,366 on average.
For nonprofits such as USA Swimming, raising $10 million to $50 million per year, the group said average CEO pay was $240,733. Hinchey earned more than four times that number in 2021. His salary increased nearly $300,000 from 2020.
Other aquatic NGBs such as USA Artistic Swimming, USA Diving, and USA Water Polo fall on the smaller side of the spectrum. So even though their CEOs’ salaries account for a higher proportion of their organization’s revenue than Hinchey’s, they’re about in line with the above recommendations for executive compensation. USA Water Polo CEO Christopher Ramsey’s salary used to be higher ($478,251 in 2019) before he drew criticism for his compensation being more than what his organization spent on athlete support ($439,036 in 2019).
CEO Salaries at Aquatic NGBs
| NGB | Revenue | CEO Salary | Salary as % of Revenue |
| USA Artistic Swimming | $1.6 million | Adam Andrasko, $84,718 | 5.1% |
| USA Water Polo | $9.9 million | Christopher Ramsey, $392,288 | 3.9% |
| USA Diving | $2.9 million | Jack Perkins, $98,600 | 3.3% |
Note: Financial data from USA Swimming is from 2021, USA Water Polo is from 2020, and USA Artistic Swimming and USA Diving are from 2019.
A former president of a Major League Soccer franchise, Hinchey has served as CEO of USA Swimming since 2017. In March of 2021, he signed a four-year contract extension through at least 2025.
When asked why Hinchey’s salary was higher — both as a dollar figure and proportion of total revenue — than almost every one of his counterparts at other similar-sized NGBs (USA Track and Field being the glaring exception), USA Swimming spokesperson Molly O’Mara Fillmore responded with the following statement:
“The USA Swimming Board Governing Policies Manual directs that the Board of Directors maintains responsibility for selection, compensation, and evaluation of the CEO. The staff of USA Swimming is proud to serve our member clubs, coaches and athletes, and we value the guidance our Board gives us in many facets of our sport.”
USA Swimming declined to provide an interview with the Board of Directors to gather more information.
Hinchey’s predecessor Chuck Wielgus received $960,047 in total compensation in his last year as USA Swimming’s CEO in 2016, and $1,142,405 in 2017, the year that he died. Hinchey also received $310,698 that year.
USA Swimming’s revenues were similar in those years to what they are now. Wielgus made as much as $1,576,399 in 2013. More than half of that was deferred compensation, which was an anomaly relative to his compensation in most years.
How Does the Board Evaluate Hinchey?
The most recent USA Swimming Board of Directors meeting revealed 21 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that the organization uses to evaluate CEO performance. According to his own self-evaluation, Hinchey achieved 12 of those KPIs, failed on four objectives, and gave himself a “partial” rating on five of them.
Promoting SafeSport
- All six facets of the Safe Sport program are, over a continuum of communications, conveyed to USA-S membership
- ACHIEVED
- Increased utilization of Safe Sport Education by parents and athletes 12 and older a. 8.7% utilization by parents (3.7%) b. 26.8% utilization by athletes 12 and older (21.8%)
- NOT ACHIEVED
- Increased utilization of non-mandatory Safe Sport Education by coaches and establish baseline for utilization by other non-athlete members a. 5% increased utilization by coaches (561 coaches) b. Establish baseline for utilization by other non-athlete members
- NOT ACHIEVED
- 50% of Eligible Clubs achieve Safe Sport Club Recognition in 2022. (30.7%)
- NOT ACHIEVED
- Maintain average resolution time to complaints of six weeks or less. (5.29)
- ACHIEVED
Developing Athletes
- Annual growth in ratings across athlete-specific events/offerings. a. 2022: Maintain an average Qualtrics rating ≥5 (on 1-7 scale) for athlete camps (5) b. 2023: Ratings improve to average ≥6
- ACHIEVED
Supporting Coaches
- Establish a baseline satisfaction rating across in-person coach-specific events/offerings (e.g., TYR Pro Swim Series, YMCA, CST meets, and Swimposiums). a. 2022: Average Qualtrics ratings reach a score of 5 for all programs b. 2023: Ratings improve to average ≥6
- ACHIEVED
- Launch Coach Education Certification a. Pre-Deck and Core b. ADM Age Group / ADM Senior c. Head Coach (Future goal: Y-T-Y growth in percentage of coach members obtaining higher certification levels
- PARTIALLY ACHIEVED
Supporting Clubs
- Update the following club resources, programs, and offerings: a. Club Recognition Program b. Online new club application c. 2023-2024: Y-T-Y growth in participation and evaluative ratings
- ACHIEVED
- 2022: Establish prototype of programming to bridge learn to swim opportunities to USA Swimming membership. 2023: Fully implement
- ACHIEVED
- Establish baseline of USA Swimming member clubs that have or are connected with a Local Provider Network
- PARTIALLY ACHIEVED
Diversity and Inclusion
- Expand Community Swim Team participation: a. Resume LA and Chicago CSTs b. Add two additional CSTs
- PARTIALLY ACHIEVED
- Growth in attendance at in-person or virtual DEI education provided by USA Swimming a. 6 clubs participating (1) b. 1000 individual total attendees (406)
- ACHIEVED
Supporting Volunteers
- Establish baseline for optional nonprofit club attendance and increase average evaluation/ratings to 6 on a 1-7 scale of Club Leadership & Business Management School (5)
- ACHIEVED
- Elevate consistency of standards for officials across LSCs: a. Determine standards and develop a basic core curriculum for training and certifying officials b. Identify and //approve/implement required Rulebook changes c. Initiate pilot program with certain LSCs d. 2023: Launch program for all LSCs
- PARTIALLY ACHIEVED
Facility Development
- Growth in annual instances of clubs/facilities seeking USA Swimming support/advocacy for facility projects (benchmark to be established in 2022).
- ACHIEVED
- All clubs to report facilities and manner in which they are used; complete and accurate inventory of clubs and uses created
- ACHIEVED
Support LSCs
- Achieve full compliance with newly launched LEAP program.
- ACHIEVED
- Maintain full LSC participation in USA Swimming’s (i) monthly LSC meetings, (ii) quarterly LSC Development Workshops; and (iii) annual USA Swimming Workshop.
- ACHIEVED
- Double the number of LSCs participating in the shared services framework (10)
- NOT ACHIEVED
- 50% of LSCs participate in optional LSC Board attendance at in person or virtual DEI education provided by USA Swimming
- PARTIALLY ACHIEVED
Other performance indicators outlined in prior Board of Director minutes revolve around performance and success in the pool for the US National Team, promoting a “clean sport environment,” providing both financial and mental/physical health support to National Team athletes, and improving diversity within USA Swimming’s membership.
The Board went into a closed session to discuss Hinchey’s success achieving his objectives over the past year, so no additional details are available.
It’s hard to single out Tim when the corporate culture has encouraged this type of compensation for years. And let’s not kid ourselves that, although USA Swimming is a “non-profit” organization, it is run as a for profit corporation and Tim comes from that background. He’s a dinosaur in a culture of dinosaurs. We can change the organization and how’s it’s governed or simply question the fact that during his first two years (pre-pandemic) as CEO USA Swimming lost over $2 million in revenue. That’s a figure most corporate boards would calculate into an evaluation, but not USA Swimming. Why?
Seems to me that USA Swimming members (parents, coaches, teams and athletes) need to take control of the reigns… Read more »
Any chance this fool making massive coin on the backs of athletes can cover the cost of Oly Trials Tickets for those parents less fortunate? Underworked and overpaid position in a corporate scheme.
Hey Tim that is a ridiculous high salary. I will like to know how they justify a salary of over one million in both track and field and swimming when in fact the bottom 5-10-20-30 in both sports make less than 500k? How can you justify such a salary? That is what I call STEALING from the athletes! You both should be ashamed! They are doing the minimal to promote the sport! We have athletes set world records and get less than 100k for their efforts? The Millrose games in NYC and the national in NM or outdoor event is sparsely attended! The recent world championships in Eugene were overpriced and the stands not full? The only thing that either… Read more »
Why all the handwringing? The CEO of USASwimming should be paid on fundraising. How much outside money can the position bring in? Pay 10% + $150K salary. That money then is distributed to clubs and pros based on a formula.
In my opinion
We should first look at job performance – of the employee – not the employee’s collective
For DECADES the head of USA Swimming got credit for the incredible performances of our athletes and therein the tremendous work of the coaches and teachers
SS – Throw all the BS you want – the past 50+ years in the pool and on the deck – some of the very best in all of sport
What has Tim Hinchey contributed in this process – this should be the evaluation – then – is he worth a Million Dollars a year?
Idk, can you imagine if they didn’t pay him that much?? He’d go somewhere else, and like…where would USA Swimming be without Tim Hinchey??
Honestly kind of sickening to see that number when you know what some pros do to get by. Absolutely underserved.
For me, I don’t mind it if he’s getting paid that much – if things were trucking along. If things were going great, I don’t think anybody would care.
But:
-Membership is down
-SafeSport programs aren’t working (by his own admission), and there was that whole “I haven’t read the Code of Conduct” thing
-Revenue is flat
-The technology redevelopment has been an absolute flop
Like I get that running USA Swimming is hard, and you need someone really good, and really smart, and really strong at the top to run it. So you need to pay to attract that kind of talent. But what I object to is the attitude in Colorado Springs that he… Read more »
USA Swimming is basically a giant redistribution scheme that takes from the parents of eight year olds looking to have fun/learn to swim and gives the money to overpaid execs and national team level athletes. The people who pay the most get very little in return.
Honestly, the national team doesn’t get very much if I remember correctly.
100% accurate!