Chuck Wielgus Gives USA Swimming State Of The Sport Report

Photo Courtesy: Swimming World

At the USA Swimming banquet this past weekend in Atlanta, USA Swimming Executive Director Chuck Wielgus gave his annual “State of the Sport Report.”

In that speech, Wielgus discussed the impressive performances from the U.S. Olympic Trials and from the Olympic Games in Rio as well as USA Swimming’s current culture and plans for business and expansion in the next four years.

The speech includes a mention of USA Swimming’s satisfaction with the experience of hosting Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb., and Wielgus discusses the possibility of returning there in 2020.

Read Wielgus’ full speech below.

What a great year this has been for USA Swimming! Virtually every single aspect of our business is healthy and vibrant. And what a show our National Team athletes put on at the Rio Olympic Games. We have so much to be proud of and thankful for this year.

I’d like to start by thanking the USA Swimming Board of Directors, the Executive Committee and President Jim Sheehan for their wonderful service this year and for supporting all of our efforts. It hasn’t always been easy, but these volunteer leaders have served our organization well.

I also want to thank our 59 LSC General Chairs, our Committee Chairs and the hundreds of volunteers who have participated in the governance of our sport at the regional and national levels.

At a time when volunteerism in our country is on the decline, USA Swimming continues to rely on volunteer involvement at every level. The more than 7,000 age group swim meets we sanctioned this past year simply wouldn’t happen without all the moms, dads and others who step forward and volunteer to help out.

RIO OLYMPIC GAMES PERFORMANCES
We heard a lot about troubling issues leading up to the Rio Olympic Games. There were concerns about the water quality at the open water venue, budget cuts, crime and, of course, the Zika virus.

These all ended up being non-issues and the people of Rio put on a spectacular Games. There were other concerns closer to home, some people even wondering if the new generation of elite-level athletes were up to the standards set by their predecessors.

Boy, were they!

At the Rio Olympic Games, we all witnessed the very best of USA Swimming’s most elite athletes. Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky and other veterans set the tone and provided leadership. Then add the incredible performances of the 31 rookie team members, most of whom came home with an Olympic medal.

Our Olympic Swim Team won 33 total medals, 16 of them gold, and many experts have called this USA Swimming’s greatest Olympic Games performance ever. Here are a few notable statistics:- By winning 16 gold medals, U.S. swimmers won 50% of the available gold medals.

– There were 26 first-time Olympic medalists.

– The U.S. had a finalist in 25 of the 26 individual events.

– The U.S. had two finalists in 20 of the 26 individual events.

– U.S. swimmers broke three World Records and seven American Records.I credit much of this success to a National Team culture that is nurtured over the course of the entire quad. This culture places high expectations on all athletes and coaches with the understanding that the primary goal is medal-winning performances at the Olympic Games.

It’s also noteworthy that our National Team staff puts an enormous amount of effort into planning and preparations. Every effort is made to provide support and eliminate distractions so that athletes are able to step onto the blocks confident and ready.

OTHER MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PAST YEAR

There are many other reasons to celebrate this past year. If you attended the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, then you are aware of what a truly special sporting spectacle this event has become.

We sold out each of the 15 competition sessions in the 14,500 seat Century Link Center Arena in Omaha. Every swim was either on television or online, with the Finals being shown in primetime on NBC every night for a week.

The Omaha Convention and Visitor’s Bureau conducted an economic impact study, which reported that the hard economic benefit of the Olympic Trials to the Omaha community was in excess of $74M.

Without a doubt, the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Swimming is the keystone event for our sport and the marquis showcase for America’s top swimming talent.

We are planning to return to Omaha for the 2020 Trials, and working now to finalize the details. We will continue to partner with the Omaha Sports Commission.

There were other highlights this year and worth mentioning in this State-of-the-Sport report.

Perhaps the most groundbreaking project we undertook was the production of the documentary film, THE LAST GOLD. We wanted to take advantage of the 40-year anniversary of the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games to tell what many people feel is among the most important moments in American and Olympic swimming history.

The film is intended to capture and share the inspirational performance of four U.S. women swimmers, who took on and ultimately beat the products of the state-sponsored East German doping machine. In addition to telling the inspirational story of Shirley Babashoff, Jill Sterkel, Wendy Boglioli and Kim Peyton, THE LAST GOLD is a cautionary tale to all of us involved in international sport with the warning that all these years later state-sponsored doping is still an issue.

The film was selected for its World Premiere on June 6 at the prestigious Los Angeles Film Festival. More than 4,000 films were submitted for consideration by the L.A. Film Festival, and THE LAST GOLD was one of only ten documentaries selected. The film was then shown at theaters around the country on July 11. On August 1, THE LAST GOLD was broadcast with limited commercial interruptions on the NBC Sports Network. And finally, the film is now available on iTunes.

All in all, we could not be prouder of this film and the national distribution and attention that it received. This film is evidence of USA Swimming’s ability to produce content that can reach a wider range of audiences.Another major happening this past year was the sale of USA Swimming’s captive insurance company. Established in 1988, the U.S. Sports Insurance Company (USSIC) was our NGB’s successful response to what was then a very difficult insurance marketplace.

Over the years, USSIC has ensured that USA Swimming was appropriately protected, and along the way the company built a substantial capital reserve. Details relating to the sale of USSIC were provided last night in the President’s Address to the House of Delegates.

USA Swimming welcomed three new corporate partners to its already substantial list of sponsorships.

– Blue Diamond is a healthy snack and protein food for athletes and families. Our logo has been prominently displayed on the packaging as seen in Walmart and Target.

– MilkPEP is a relationship we’ve developed with the milk processing industry through which chocolate milk is promoted as an effective recovery drink. You have likely seen many of their television commercials and print advertisements.

– And the third new corporate partner we signed is Ciprodex, a prescription medication for swimmer’s ear.

With the addition of these three new corporate partners, USA Swimming how has 14 official sponsors. These sponsorships now account for 16% of USA Swimming’s overall revenue budget.

CULTURAL VALUES THAT LEAD TO CONTINUAL GROWTH AND SUCCESS

I was asked one time in a meeting that included about two dozen Olympic sports executives what I thought was the most important part of my job. Without hesitation, I said that my number one responsibility was, “culture.”

When asked to elaborate, I said that at USA Swimming we have adopted ten cultural values that we use to define “HOW we will conduct ourselves, or in other words, not WHAT we will do, but rather HOW we will go about our work.”

I meet with every new employee and stress the importance of these values, which are listed for you in the pamphlet that outlines our 2020 Business Plan. These values are the touchstones that lead to our NGB’s successes, and they will continue to be the cornerstone pieces for our 2020 Business Plan.

2020 BUSINESS PLAN

Next to a commitment to adhere to our cultural values, the most important part of the 2020 Business Plan is to maintain our commitment to the mantra of BUILD, PROMOTE and ACHIEVE: Build the base; Promote the sport; and Achieve sustained international competitive success. These three pillars are the foundation upon which we have constructed the 2020 Business Plan.

I will not go over the plan in detail in my comments this morning because there is simply way too much information to cover, so I encourage you to take the time to carefully review the presentation document that has been distributed here in Atlanta this week.

However, I would like to point out some highlights of the Business Plan, including some trends that we are recognizing and that will impact how we plan for the future of our sport.

BUILD the base

The professional sports leagues are pouring millions of dollars into grassroots programs. This should have the attention of all NGBs, NBC and the USOC. These investments are necessary because there is an overall decrease in youth sports participation in our country.

Non-traditional eSports, otherwise known as video gaming, is dramatically on the rise. In fact, colleges are creating scholarships for these kind of programs and we are even seeing arenas being filled with this new blend of competition and entertainment.

We take our swimming seriously, and certainly it’s worth it when we see the kind of results we had in Rio. However, not all parents are there yet. Many families are looking for more of an “activity” than a sport when they first register their children with a swimming club. To continue to grow, we must recognize this trend and find ways to accommodate these families.

This is one reason why it is important that we consider new membership categories and competitive benefits. Progressive clubs will be looking to modify their programming to accommodate those kids that are interested in swimming, but have yet to reach of the stage of being workout fanatics.

We should also look at new kinds of meet formats that will be more attractive to families with busy schedules and children who aren’t yet ready to commit to dedicated training schedules.

This is the kind of flexible and creative thinking that will be required if we are to continue attracting new children to competitive swimming. Special bridge programs can increase enrollments and improve retention percentages.

Our statistics tell us that once a young swimmer reaches the age of 13, the retention rate jumps more than 30 percentage points to almost 90%. This means that the most influential time in a young swimmer’s development occurs between the ages of 8 and 12. Get a kid between these ages excited about swimming and there’s an excellent chance that they will be involved for many years to come.

Access to facilities, quality swimming instruction and inspirational coaching are the keys to the future growth of our sport. We must continue to place an emphasis on educational and training programs for our member coaches. USA Swimming’s Club Development Division will continue providing support programming for coaches and clubs.

USA Swimming’s Facilities Development Department does a fantastic job of providing guidance and resources to clubs and communities looking to construct new pools. However, we are seeing incidents of air and water quality issues in indoor facilities. This is a topic that is going to need more of our attention in the years ahead.

As we look to the future, there are significant recommendations being made by the LSC/Zone Governance Task Force. Among these are recommendations for expanded field services staff to increase the support for LSCs and Zones. As with all the recommendations, we will work closely with the Board of Directors and others to determine how best to integrate new programs and services into our overall business strategies.

PROMOTE the sport

When it comes to promoting our sport, I see far more opportunities in the future than we’ve ever had before. At the same time, technologies are changing so rapidly and so we must be incredibly mindful of how people are consuming their information.

By now, I’m sure most of you have heard of the expression, “cord cutting.” The numbers of people who are forgoing traditional cable and wired services in favor of mobile are staggering.

Mobile is becoming the “first screen” and sports properties must adapt. Over the course of the past year we have been working to redesign our website, and by the end of this year we will be introducing a completely revamped usaswimming.org website. Our new priority will be how we share information on handheld devices.

USA Swimming is renewing its television partnership, ensuring that our major event properties will have a place on the broadcast programming schedule with NBC and the NBC Sports Network. We have also created a new business unit titled “USA Swimming Productions,” with the goal of producing and distributing much more video and streaming content.

For many years now, swimming has benefited from the high-profile presence of Michael Phelps. Many people have openly wondered what promoting swimming will be like in the post-Phelps era. First of all, who other than Michael is to say when that era will end? I actually think we have more professional athletes than ever before to promote and the future is rich with opportunities.

In the coming quad you should anticipate that we will begin marketing the next generation of elite athletes. Increasingly, we will also be reaching out to minority communities in an effort to attract more African-American, Asian and Hispanic children to our sport.

Consider this: online searches for swim teams were at an all-time high in the four days following Simone Manuel’s 100M Free Gold Medal at the Olympic Games.

The USA Swimming Foundation’s Make a Splash initiative plays an instrument role in our diversity and inclusion efforts. Just as a kid cannot join a hockey team until they learn how to skate, we cannot expect a kid to join a swim team until they know how to swim.
The more learn-to-swim opportunities that we help provide for children ages 5-8, the greater the potential for more Simone Manuel’s to choose to become competitive swimmers. There’s a short PSA video, voiced by the actor Morgan Freeman, promoting the USA Swimming Foundation and the Make a Splash program.

Morgan Freeman! Now that’s pretty cool.

Our marketing efforts will also promote the benefits of USA Swimming’s Safe Sport program. Parents want to know that their children are being supervised by educated, informed and certified professionals. USA Swimming can today provide that assurance. Our sport has also made significant headway in reaching out to the LGBTQ community. As an activity, swimming is safe and the environment is open and inclusive. These are things we should be proud of and promote.
I do think we’ll be facing some tough questions in the years ahead. For example, when it comes to media the world is clearly moving toward digital and away from print. Splash Magazine has always been considered among the most tangible benefits of USA Swimming membership, but the expense for publishing and distributing Splash reaches seven-figures in expenses.

I’d like for my comments this morning to initiate an open dialogue about this topic. We do already provide a digital version of Splash magazine on an opt-in basis, but less than 10% of our membership takes advantage of this version. If you have a strong feeling on whether or not we should maintain Splash Magazine in a print format, please share your opinion with us.

ACHIEVE sustained international success

When it comes to international competition results, USA Swimming may be the envy of most other sports in the U.S. Olympic sports family. Our Olympic Team just finished what many are calling the best performance ever, and a whole new crop of rookies are now in the mix to compete for spots on the National Team. However, we would be making a big mistake to think that we can sit back and rest on our laurels.

There’s an old saying, “The best time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining” and this saying is an apt description of how we should be looking at our National Team program. Athlete assistance support is being restructured with a greater emphasis on recognizing current performance and future potential rather than rewarding past performances.

We are continuing to make improvements to the Arena Pro Swim Series. Starting next year, all events in the Series will be televised on the NBC Sports Network and the prize money is being increased.

The National Junior Team Program will continue to be a high priority. Younger athletes who qualify for international trips will also be introduced to the National Team culture, eventually making their move to the senior level an easier transition.

Also, we’re very excited to be announcing that USA Swimming will be hosting the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships next August in Indianapolis.

Open water is an important part of the overall National Team program. In addition to providing training and competition opportunities for athletes, we will be strong advocates for safety at open water events.

The future of college swimming is always on our minds, and USA Swimming is extending its financial support to the College Swimming Coaches Association through the next quad. We will also be working with the USOC’s new Director of Collegiate Partnerships.

Doping issues appear to be on the rise, and this is incredibly frustrating for all countries that are committed to clean sport. We will continue to make education and awareness a priority at the domestic level. And internationally, we will do what we can in joining other advocates for clean sport. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and its CEO, Travis Tygart have become worldwide leaders in the fight for clean sport and we should be the loudest cheerleader.

CLOSING COMMENTS

Over the past three Olympic Games, I’ve heard people make the comment that these were the “Golden Years” of USA Swimming, and that we’d never do this well again … heard it after Beijing in 2008; heard it after London in 2012; and now I’ve heard it again in 2016.

Here’s what I think: I think USA Swimming’s “Golden Years” are still ahead of us.

I look at the depth and breadth of the programs and services that we provide and what I see is a membership organization that is highly responsive to the needs of its constituents. With our promotional focus shifting increasingly to digital, and with the establishment of an enhanced video content strategy, I see a sport that is vibrant and will continue to grow and attract new participants.

And even with the possible retirement of some of our most high profile athletes, I see a pipeline of incredible talent coming up through the system. Just consider the 26 first-timers who medaled in Rio. I have no doubt that these athletes will have to fight like the dickens just to maintain their position on the National Team in the years ahead. This competitive environment is healthy and bodes very well for future successes.

If you don’t know it already, let me tell you here that USA Swimming also has an incredible pool of professional talent at its national headquarters in Colorado Springs. There isn’t a job opening that comes up that we don’t have successful people from other Olympic and professional sports organizations who want to work for USA Swimming.

Fortunately, our financial position is strong and I believe we have the necessary resources to continue fulfilling our mission to build the base, promote the sport and achieve sustained international success.

Our culture of excellence is recognized and appreciated by others, and all of us who work to serve our membership do so with honor and pride. Indeed, it is a privilege to work for USA Swimming.

I can tell you with great assurance that the state of our sport is exceptionally strong. Support programs and services for athletes, coaches and clubs are the bedrock of our organization. In developing the 2020 Business Plan, we conducted a thorough audit of all existing programs and services, and wherever possible we have made enhancements to improve what we already do.

Above all else, let’s always remind ourselves that we are in the business of Build, Promote and Achieve. If we continue to do our job right, the cream will always rise to the top. Take a look at this short video, with Rowdy Gaines making the race calls for today’s superstars when they were age groupers just starting their journey through the athlete pipeline.

I continue to be honored to serve as your executive director; and please know that I am supported by the most dedicated staff of professionals in all Olympic sports. Each one of us comes to work every day with a commitment to a value system that drives us to always do what is right and to strive for excellence in everything that we do.

It has been a great year, and a great quad … and the next quad is going to be even better.

Thank you … and GO USA!

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