Think Olympic swimming, think Team USA. 266 golds place them as the gold standard of Olympic swimming. But dominance doesn’t eliminate disaster. At the recent World Aquatics Championships, several American swimmers went down with severe gastrointestinal issues, exposing alarming failures behind the scenes. Michael Phelps fired back, demanding a leadership change. With USA Swimming now under a new head poncho, the GOAT believes this is the moment to fix things before LA 2028.

After Tim Hinchey stepped down following the 2024 Olympics, USA Swimming spent nearly a year searching for its next CEO. The organization initially selected Chrissi Rawak, but she withdrew just nine days into the role due to an undisclosed complaint. After months of uncertainty and repeated evaluations, USA Swimming has finally appointed Kevin Ring as its new chief executive.

The appointment came just a month after Michael Phelps publicly criticized USA Swimming for its handling of the World Championships. Despite Team USA’s clean sweep of the swimming table with 29 total medals, 9 gold, 11 silver, and 9 bronze, the widespread illness that affected several athletes pushed Phelps to call for accountability and systemic changes. Phelps followed up with a five-post Instagram series, urging USA Swimming’s leadership to take immediate action.

The authorities have certainly heard his plea. The looming 2028 Olympics amplified the concerns he had raised. Eight-time Olympic medalist Regan Smith expressed that this is the final opportunity to fix things. In short, Smith wants someone who can lead them properly before LA 2028 kicks off .

“We can’t f— up.”

“I just feel like we were stagnant for a year, and now we’re starting to put some plans in motion. It’s kind of putting me at ease.”

In an interview with the media, the newly minted CEO of USA Swimming, Kevin Ring, expressed that their main priority is to enhance the reach of the sport.

“I want to make sure I’m not bothering them, but (that) they know I’m visible, aware, I care about who they are, and I care about their success.”

With the new CEO in place, USA Swimming aims to stabilize and improve the program. Phelps’ concerns are expected to be reviewed, and the organization has also hired a new managing director as part of its restructuring. That’s not all. Ring expects active participation from Michael Phelps as well.

Kevin Ring expects to work closely with Michael Phelps

Apart from Kevin Ring, the organization also hired long-term Stanford coach Greg Meehan as its national team managing director back in April. Kevin expects to work closely with Meehan and make sure that he gets all the necessary resources to deliver vigorous growth in the sport. Besides that, Ring has also hired a new CFO with a background in college sports, Cory Hilliard.

Apart from that, the new CEO aims to build a working relationship with Michael Phelps, who recently raised concerns about the declining state of USA Swimming. Ring shared, “To be as involved as he thinks makes sense.”

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“I think he has been very clear that he just wants what’s best for USA Swimming. I want the same thing.”

The upcoming Olympics will be crucial for Ring as well as the entire institution, where they will have the opportunity to showcase their talent after their subpar performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“I want to make sure we do everything we possibly can to support the athletes. And I want to make sure we’re doing everything possible to get more people in the pool so we also create that pipeline for the future athletes.”

Maybe in the future, we might witness Michael Phelps on the core USA Swimming committee with Kevin Ring leading the team further. Given that, what are your thoughts on this leadership change?