Per USA Swimming rules, the Board of Directors can elect a temporary replacement for the late Jim Wood until the National Team Steering Committee can elect a new chair.
Wood, a former president of USA Swimming and longtime influential member of USA Swimming and U.S. Aquatic Sports, died last week at the age of 68. Wood was serving as the chair of the USA Swimming National Team Steering Committee, which also gave him a seat on USA Swimming’s Board of Directors.
According to USA Swimming’s 2018 rulebook, a vacancy on the Board of Directors can be filled by a majority vote of the remaining members of the board, until Wood’s successor is found. Here’s the specific portion of USA Swimming’s rulebook, section 504.9:
504.9 Vacancies – Any vacancy that may occur on the Board of Directors caused by death, resignation, incapacity or other reason may be filled permanently or temporarily by a majority vote of the remaining members until the zone, organization, or committee concerned shall have elected or selected a permanent or temporary successor. A permanent successor shall fill the unexpired term of the vacant office. A temporary appointment shall serve for only such time as is necessary for either the appointing authority to replace the vacant office or until the temporary incapacity is cured. An appointment to fill a permanent or temporary vacancy shall be with full rights of the office.
That means the Board of Directors can, by a majority vote, select a successor for Wood should it need one.
The “appointing authority” would be the National Team Steering Committee, which elects its own chair. The Steering Committee was established in March of 2017 as part of USA Swimming’s restructuring of its national team division. The Steering Committee is selected for each Olympic cycle, meaning the current group would remain intact through the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
It’s a collection of coaches, and based on USA Swimming’s selection criteria (which you can see here), should include the following:
- Preceding Head Women’s Olympic Coach (1): David Marsh
- Preceding Head Men’s Olympic Coach (1): Bob Bowman
- The Head Women’s Coach for the two Long Course World Championships preceding the Olympic Games (2): Greg Meehan (2017)
- The Head Men’s Coach for the two Long Course World Championships preceding the Olympic Games (2): Dave Durden (2017)
- Two coaches appointed by the President in consultation with the National Team Director (2)
- Two athletes selected by the Athletes Committee, one female/one male, both former USA National Team members (2)
Wood was one of the two coaches appointed by the president, and his spot on the steering committee should be filled the same way. The steering committee itself can elect a new chair who will represent the steering committee on the Board of Directors.
