{"id":621892,"date":"2025-09-04T16:09:43","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T23:09:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=621892"},"modified":"2025-09-04T17:40:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T00:40:17","slug":"new-usa-swimming-ceo-kevin-ring-im-going-to-call-michael-phelps-very-quickly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/new-usa-swimming-ceo-kevin-ring-im-going-to-call-michael-phelps-very-quickly\/","title":{"rendered":"New USA Swimming CEO Kevin Ring: \u2018I\u2019m Going to Call Michael Phelps Very Quickly\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

New USA Swimming CEO Kevin Ring: \u2018I\u2019m Going to Call Michael Phelps Very Quickly\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

A common thread in the professional experience of new USA Swimming CEO Kevin Ring,<\/strong> whose hiring was announced Thursday<\/a>, is managing relationships.<\/p>\n

The role he fills atop USA Swimming has seen a rupture in the link between the organization and some of its most high-profile Olympians, none bigger and more public about it than Michael Phelps.<\/strong> Ring is out to change that.<\/p>\n

In an interview<\/a> with Swimming World<\/em> upon taking the job Thursday, Ring said he\u2019s making outreach to Phelps and connection to alumni in particular a priority.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m going to call Michael very quickly here,\u201d Ring said Thursday. \u201cI’m going to reach out to him. I want to hear more about them (his experiences). I think a lot of this for me is going to be looking forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the 2025 World Aquatics Championships, several alumni were highly critical of the state of USA Swimming<\/a>, in terms of performances in the pool and the fact that the organization had been without a CEO since August 2024. Phelps, Rowdy Gaines<\/strong> and Ryan Lochte<\/strong> were among those most vocal. Phelps expounded on that criticism after the meet<\/a>, mentioning that his efforts to reach out to the organization had been repeatedly rebuffed.<\/p>\n