Tim Hinchey Addresses Safe Sport in Annual State of the Sport Letter

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

USA Swimming CEO and President Tim Hinchey released his annual State of the Sport letter on the organization’s website yesterday. Hinchey outlines the progress and initiatives across USA Swimming, but chose to open his letter by addressing what he calls was a “transformative” year:

“The year 2018 has been a transformative one for every major industry, including sports. It has created awareness and urgency of important issues and required everyone to reassess and refocus their priorities. At USA Swimming we have embraced this wholeheartedly, knowing that our memberships’ positive experiences are the lifeblood of our organization.”

Hinchey goes on to detail USA Swimming’s comprehensive abuse prevention and response program, Safe Sport, and highlighted what new resources the program has reached out to in order to complete it’s mission. USA Swimming, along with other governing bodies, has been under increased scrutiny surrounding how it handles allegations of sexual harassment and abuse. Hinchey himself testified before the United States Congress last May to explain the organization’s policies and procedures to protect athletes, and also addressed the 2010 scandal that brought the spotlight on USA Swimming’s handling of these incidents.

Hinchey identified the new additions to Safe Sport in his letter:

“These include: personal face-to-face meetings with survivors of abuse, the development and implementation of the Safe Sport Recognized Club program, which will be previewed at Convention and launched shortly thereafter, the engagement of outside content and training expert Praesidium to evaluate our content, the additional promotion and access to the SwimAssist funding program, the creation of a PSA with National Team athletes taking a stand against athlete abuse that aired on national television, and much more.”

Hinchey also addresses USA Swimming’s 10-year plan heading into the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, which will be the first summer Olympics on U.S. soil since Atlanta in 1996; the organization’s plan to raise the “presentation and pageantry” of national events to that of the U.S. Olympic Trials; and continued efforts to both raise the profile of the sport and increase participation across the United States

You can read the full letter from Hinchey on USA Swimming’s website here.

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