USA Swimming
USA Swimming is the national governing body for competitive swimming in the United States. It is charged with selecting the United States Olympic Swimming team and any other teams that officially represent the United States, as well as the overall organization and operation of the sport within the country, in accordance with the Olympic and Amateur Sports Act. The national headquarters of USA Swimming is located at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
History
USA Swimming was originally called United States Swimming upon its departure from the AAU. Thus, there are several terms used to describe the organization at different times. These terms are: USA Swimming, USA-S, United States Swimming, USS, and US Swimming. Prior to the existence of USS, the AAU, or the Amateur Athletic Union, served as the governing body for swimming and other sports across the country.Amateur Athletic Union
The Amateur Athletic Union was the official organization responsible for the running of all amateur sports in the United States, established in 1888. The AAU was officially charged with the organization and operation of many sports in the US. During this time, swimming was one of the committees in the organization and was not an independent governing body.The Amateur Sports Act of 1978 enabled the governance of sports in the US by organizations other than the AAU. This act made each sport set up its own national governing body. Each of these governing bodies would be part of the United States Olympic Committee, but would not be run by the committee. Thus, United States Swimming was born. From 1978 to 1980, the official responsibilities of governing the sport were transferred from the AAU Swimming Committee to the new United States Swimming. Bill Lippman, the last head of the Swimming Committee, and Ross Wales, the first president of United States Swimming, worked together to ease the transition. This process was made more interesting because the United States boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics and, during this time, the leadership of the sport was in flux.
The AAU still holds several aquatic events, but it is no longer the official governing body of the sport.
Presidents
- Bill Lippman – Last Head of swimming committee in the AAU
- Ross Wales – First standalone President of USA Swimming
- Sandra Baldwin
- Carol Zaleski
- Bill Maxson
- Dale Neuburger
- Ron Van Pool
- Jim Wood
- Bruce Stratton
- Jim Sheehan
- Bob Vincent
- Tim Hinchey
- Kevin M. Ring
Chief executives
- Ray Essick
- Chuck Wielgus
- Tim Hinchey
- Kevin M. Ring
Location
In 1997, work was completed on the official USA Swimming Headquarters, which is currently the official home of USA Swimming.
Through the national headquarters, the organization provides various programs and services to its members, supporters, affiliates and the interested public. This includes educational programs, fund-raising activities, general information, publications, resources, and sports medicine programs, all relating to the sport of swimming.
Organizational structure
There are several parts and levels that make up USA Swimming. There is the national governing body level, the zone level, and the local swimming committee level.The National Governing Body
The National Governing Body of United States Swimming is an extension of the United States Olympic Committee. While all of the separate swim teams, LSC's, and Zones do not officially make up the NGB, they are all members and are subject to the laws of the NGB.The NGB is made up of both staff members of USA Swimming and volunteer members of the board. The office of the President is the head of the board and is responsible for the overall direction of USA Swimming. The chief executive is the head of the staff located at the national headquarters in Colorado Springs at the Olympic Training Center. The chief executive is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the organization at the national level.
The NGB is responsible for nearly all aspects of USA Swimming, and swimming in the United States in general. Its most important responsibility is to set the rules for the sport in the United States. These rules are guided by the international governing body for aquatic sports. World Aquatics makes the rules that are to be followed at all international level meets. USA Swimming follows accordingly to make the rules of USA Swimming match the rules of World Aquatics; however, it does not have to. In theory, an NGB could make its rules whatever it wanted and have all national level meets and below follow those rules, but it would not have jurisdiction over international level meets held within the borders of the United States, and such a meet would have to follow World Aquatics rules.
The Local Swimming Committee
The Local Swimming Committee is the local level of USA Swimming. Each LSC is a separate entity, with each being an individual member of USA Swimming, although all act on behalf of USA Swimming on the local level. LSCs are the local administrative organization responsible for the registration, support and governance of the USA Swimming member swim clubs in their designated region. Over 3,100 swim clubs across the US are registered with USA Swimming through their respective LSCs.The LSC gives USA Swimming sanctions to swimming meets in their area. A sanction from the LSC allows the meet to be run under USA Swimming rules. The LSC is responsible for enforcing these rules at the meet. The LSC does this by training officials for the meet. These officials are typically parents of swimmers and volunteers. The technical swimming rules for USA Swimming are the same for all LSCs as mandated by USA Swimming. This allows an official in one LSC to officiate in another LSC without having to learn a new set of rules. This is able to be done because while each LSC may have its own set of rules they are not different regarding the actual strokes.
An LSC is typically responsible for an entire state; however, several bigger states have multiple LSCs within their boundaries. The size of the LSCs is supposed to be roughly the same and allow for easier travel between meets. The result is that while borders tend to follow state borders, this is not a rule. There are currently 59 LSCs in the country. The largest Local Swimming Committee by membership is Southern California Swimming, with approximately 20,000 swimmers. The LSC encompasses Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Santa Barbara. The largest by area is Alaska Swimming, which encompasses the entire state of Alaska, but it is one of the smallest by membership, with fewer than 2,500 swimmers registered. The smallest by area is Potomac Valley Swimming, which includes Washington D.C., parts of Northern Virginia, and Montgomery County and Prince George's County in Maryland. However, it is one of the largest by membership, with around 12,000 athletes registered.