With the discharge of extra unhealthy monetary information for USA Swimming from their newest Board of Administrators assembly, one member of the voting Home of Delegates* requested an excellent query within the remark part about what, on its floor, was one of many extra optimistic revelations from the most recent monetary info.
Sport Growth requested for, and acquired, a rise in funding by considerably elevating membership dues as a way to broaden their companies. Now they’re lowering their bills by 500k? The place did that cash go? As a voting member of the HOD this might trigger loads of mistrust with the group sooner or later…
The commenter was referring to the contentious battle between coaches and USA Swimming in 2024 when USA Swimming requested to boost membership dues as a way to present higher companies again to groups.
The Background
Particularly, the proposed enhance was from $75 per yr to $225 per yr for present golf equipment and $750 for brand spanking new golf equipment of their first three years, presuming that new golf equipment would wish extra assist. Ultimately, after negotiation, the $225 price was accepted, however the $750 was diminished to only a membership’s first yr.
This was the primary change in membership dues since 1990.
USA Swimming dedicated in the course of the assembly to make use of the funds on the next listing of packages, although one coach informed SwimSwam that even in the course of the presentation, a malfunctioning pc led to a presenter commenting that a number of the cash could be spent on new computer systems and telephones for workers members, which isn’t a part of the listing beneath.
Extra visits from USA Swimming to LSCs
Alignment with LSCs on serving golf equipment
Extra membership visits to number of membership sizes
Extra listening to coaches at native stage
Extra recognition of golf equipment (particularly these producing at an age group stage)
Common conferences in LSC with coaches and LSC Boards
In-person coach training
Embody coaches in decision-making course of, each in-person and broad grassroots participation
Assist when golf equipment are dealing with important challenges round services, board adjustments, and so forth.
On the time, the battle was much less concerning the enhance, which most coaches agreed wasn’t unreasonable, however across the lack of belief between coaches and the group – with the connection between USA Swimming and U.S. swim coaches deteriorating to an all-time low level by the top of Tim Hinchey’s tenure.
So Did USA Swimming Renege?
USA Swimming, leaning into its newfound pillar of transparency, supplied SwimSwam with a radical clarification for the way they are saying they managed to avoid wasting $499,077 with out lowering companies to members.
A spokesperson mentioned that this stuff shall be detailed in line gadgets of their audited monetary experiences that come out later this yr, however gave a preview.
For one, the spokesperson identified that the membership dues went into impact for the 2026 membership yr, that means that the upper fee didn’t hit till September 2025, with that income not hitting the price range till the 2026 price range yr. Despite that, USA Swimming says they proactively elevated the assist to member companies in 2025.
That included will increase to training, service, and virtually doubling the journey price range for LSC and Group Providers to “enhance direct member contact factors,” as was promised within the 2024 negotiation.
Past that, USA Swimming says these are actual value financial savings pushed by efficiencies in enterprise operations, not diminished companies. Amongst these:
1) Credit score Card Processing Charges – A silver lining to the diminished USA Swimming membership was a discount in bank card processing charges, which falls underneath the Sport Growth Price range
2) Lowering the Price range on the Annual Summit – Which included lowering signage, lowering ancillary spending, and negotiating a better-than-expected fee on the resort, none of which impacted membership assist.
3) Know-how/Growth Bills – USA Swimming says that they used efficiency-finding and contract renegotiations to come back out favorable-to-projection in expertise areas. Within the 2025 price range, expertise bills reside underneath Sport Growth. In 2026, that can change in order that the group can ‘isolate and higher symbolize the spending on tech’ individually from extra direct member companies.
So, in accordance with USA Swimming, these financial savings got here primarily from merely working a greater enterprise, not lowering companies (that they weren’t obligated to supply till 2026 anyway).
It is a optimistic signal and a silver lining for the way forward for the group, as have been many different areas of leaning-out USA Swimming’s spending. The group nonetheless has a rising income drawback, nonetheless, with the lack of members and a lot of main sponsors, and so it feels seemingly that a few of these financial savings must be reinvested into packages to reverse these traits to enhance the general well being of the game.
*SwimSwam has confirmed that the commenter was a member of the 2025 Home of Delegates.
