USA Swimming Names 66 To Inaugural Women Coaches in Governance Program

USA Swimming has announced the names of the 66 coaches who have been selected for the inaugural Women Coaches in Governance program. The virtual 10-week program begins September 13, 2022. 

According to USA Swimming, “The program was developed by women coach leaders in our sport, geared towards identifying, educating, supporting and mentoring women coaches who wish to be more involved in organizational governance.” 

The program was developed by Allison Beebe, Shelly Rawding, Cathy Sheafor, Mary Liston, Olga Espinosa and USA Swimming Team Services Senior Advisor Beth Winkowski.

The LSCs were asked to nominate a woman swim coach who has a minimum of five years of coaching experience and less than one year of governance work experience. Only 38 out of the 59 LSCs provided a nomination, leaving the additional roster spots open to self-nominations. 

The program consists of 10 hour-long Zoom sessions that cover topics ranging from “How to Take Ownership of Being the Only Female in the Room” to “LSC Governance and Structure” and “Business 101”. The sessions that are more governance-specific will focus on education on the roles and responsibilities of a board of directors, understanding bylaws, and understanding the policies and procedures that relate to the House of Delegates. 

Outside of governance, the program also focuses on personal career development. There are sessions solely dedicated to this, titled “Career Growth and Development” and “Career Reflections”. Additionally, USA Swimming is giving participating coaches the opportunity to attend the 2023 USA Swimming Workshop, which will be held on-site in Denver, Colorado. The LSCs are encouraged to provide financial assistance to send the participating coaches to the multi-day workshop. 

According to USA Swimming’s 2021 Demographics Report, female coaches make up 50.7% of USA Swimming registered coaches. Despite this, female coaches have been historically underrepresented on international coaching staffs. USA Swimming named only one female coach, Carol Capitani, to the World Championships coaching staff. The Olympic team staff last summer had two female coaches–Catherine Kase (open water) and Teri McKeever. 

Florida Swimming, Gulf Swimming, and Southern California Swimming have the largest number of coaches participating in this year’s program with four apiece. Wyoming, Wisconsin, Illinois, Potomac Valley, Oregon, North Carolina, Inland Empire, Indiana, Colorado, and Allegheny Mountain also have multiple coaches participating. 

List of selected coaches: