Yuri Suguiyama’s Hiring Gives USA Swimming Cautious Momentum Going Into CEO Hiring

USA Swimming rang a big bell on Wednesday when they announced the addition of Yuri Suguiyama to their reshaped US National Team staff. A role that was previously filled by an administrator now has two coaches with top-class resumes occupying the same space (Greg Meehan being the other), marking a radical shift in the direction of the beleaguered organization.

Suguiyama, 43, and Meehan, 49, bring relatively-youthful energy to a position historically occupied by emeritus coaches toward the end of their careers. The last coach in this role, Frank Busch, was 60 when he was hired. His predecessor Mark Schubert was 57 when he began the role.

More significantly, they are two coaches that are highly engaged in the issues that are currently dragging on the sport in the United States, including the uncertain future of the Olympic Team’s primary training grounds in the NCAA. Both are young enough that they might, in fact, return to the NCAA later in their careers – it is rare for anybody to hold this post as long as it would take either man to end their career in it.

The moves should inject new life into an organization that has slumped through waning international performances, the ongoing absence of a long-term solution for CEO, downward trends in membership and finances, existential threats from the shifting collegiate landscape and shuttered pools, and impaired relationships with most of their key stakeholders.

It’s not as if there hasn’t been any excitement in recent years. The Olympic Trials in the football stadium were a pretty big deal, and swimmers like Gretchen Walsh and Bobby Finke have thrown up big performances. But organizationally, USA Swimming has been desperately searching for something to return some hope and optimism about the future of the sport in America, and this feels like a 1-2 punch that at least gives American swimmers and swim fans something to feel positive about.

While there are many questions about what exactly the roles will entail (it seems like Meehan serves as Suguiyama’s boss, though the two job descriptions do contain some overlap), in this moment, that’s almost less important than the feeling and the buzz.

It has now been 54 days since the Chrissie Rawak/CEO debacle began to unfold, and there have been no public signals that her replacement is neigh. But the interim CEO Bob Vincent, viewed by most as a capable and stable caretaker,  has managed to pull off a big coup – though I’m sure whoever takes over the job next would have loved to get to do this part of the job, but at least they will step into a role with a little momentum behind them.

Suguiyama and Meehan are both coaches who have had a lot of success. They’ve both coached Olympians and US National Teamers. They both spent time as an assistant to Dave Durden at Cal, who is one of the best men’s coaches in the business right now and over the last 15 years. They also both spent time as the primary mentor of Katie Ledecky, the greatest American female swimmer ever.

Meehan and Suguiyama are both perfect fits for the role. They have the high degrees of professionalism that roles like this command – ones where they need to be able to work amicably with a wide range of coaches and athletes from a wide range of backgrounds.

While it does take two coaches capable of developing Olympians and Olympic medalists off deck, I think that’s less important in this moment than is the momentum.

It’s not a mission accomplished, a fait accompli, on the turnaround of the organization. There is still a long way to go and a lot of bridges to be rebuilt. But the hires turned a lot of heads and caught the attention of a lot of people around the country. They are the kind of hires that, if this were a more traditional national team sport like soccer or basketball, would be greeted with nods of approval from competitors and commentators around the world. A sign of a seriousness about the effort.

While swimming national team managers don’t have quite the same significance as they would in those sports, the hires are still worth an approving, if cautious, nod that this thing might turn around after all.