USA Swimming Extends CEO Tim Hinchey’s Contract Through 2025

USA Swimming has extended the contract of President and Chief Executive Officer Tim Hinchey through 2025, adding four years onto his tenure atop the national governing body.

Since joining USA Swimming in 2017, the veteran sports executive has created a gender-equal leadership team and been credited with other accomplishments. The rescheduled 2021 Olympic Summer and Paralympic Summer Games in Tokyo will be the first Olympic competition for USA Swimming under Hinchey’s leadership; the contract extension ensures that he would stay as the NGB’s leader through the 2024 Games in Paris.

“Tim’s passion for the sport, coupled with his professional experience and successful track record, made him the perfect candidate for this role,” USA Swimming Board of Directors Chair Bob Vincent said. “In his short tenure, Tim has strategically re-envisioned and re-aligned the organization’s focus, relationship with its members and most importantly prioritized the health and wellbeing of its athletes. Never has the organization been so experienced, nimble and well-placed to address the current challenges withing the youth sports landscape and unique Olympic quadrennial.”

Under Hinchey’s tenure, the organization has developed its Safe Sport program, launched the Safe Sport Recognized Club initiative and continues to drive the Board of Director’s $5 million Keeping Athletes First plan. Planning and development is also underway for a roll-out of online member registration. Hinchey has spent the past year navigating the NGB through the COVID-19 global pandemic.

“I’m humbled and truly appreciative of the Board of Directors’ support of our organization’s work these last four years and their confidence in my vision for the future,” Hinchey said. “I continue to relish this opportunity that allows me to work in a sport I love alongside the world’s greatest athletes, coaches and volunteers. It has certainly been a remarkable and unpredictable journey since July 2017, but I am confident in knowing that the organization is brimming with incredibly skilled and talented people who will help drive our future success.”

Other changes under Hinchey’s leadership have focused on several main areas including an ongoing digital transformation of the organization’s platforms, a commercialization of national-level meets, enhanced communication with a membership of 400,000 individuals and improved programs and initiatives for athletes and coaches. These changes have included the relaunch of usaswimming.org, the development of a Customer Relationship Management system, the professionalization of the Phillips 66 National Championships and the TYR Pro Swim Series, the launch of a National Team mental health initiative and an  insurance program for member coaches.

“Tim has been a tremendous sounding board and advocate for athletes since stepping into the leadership role at USA Swimming,” said USA Swimming Board of Directors Athlete Representative and 12-time Olympic medalist Natalie Coughlin Hall. “I am appreciative of his focused efforts to create new opportunities for the sport’s top swimmers, while also ensuring that additional targeted programs and funds are available at the grassroots level to introduce new children and families to this life-changing sport.”

The organization also announced that the next TYR Pro Swim Series event of the season will be staged April 8–11 at Mission Viejo, California, at the Marguerite Aquatic Center with a reversed schedule of evening Prelims and morning Finals to mimic the Tokyo 2020 schedule. It will be the third TYR event of 2021, following meets in San Antonio in January and March. All attendees be required to present negative COVID-19 tests both before competition and on-site prior to the start of competition. Additionally, all attendees will also be required to complete a daily digital symptom tracker beginning 14 days before competition.