Voters’ Cheat Sheet for the 2016 USA Swimming Convention

The USA Swimming Annual Convention kicked off Monday in Atlanta, GA, a city storied with swimming history including the 1996 Summer Olympic Games and the more recent 2016 NCAA (Division 1) National Championships.  In anticipation of this congregation of USA Swimming’s highest administrators, most-decorated coaches and athletes, and newer coaches and officials, SwimSwam has been running an interview series with the candidates for board of directors and Zone Director seats.  Not all candidates were available, but we were fortunate enough to speak with almost half of those running.  The available positions and the candidates running are listed below.  The names of those that we were able to speak with are linked to their interviews.

Other than electing members to the board of directors, USA Swimming will also be voting on two important rules changes.  One such item is the ‘pre-team’ membership proposal, which would provide a method of seasonal membership for athletes that do not wish or are not ready to compete in swimming year-round.  The other is a budget proposal which would increase athlete and non-athlete membership fees by $2 per year.

Candidates – Board of Directors

Names with links are those with whom we’ve been able to arrange interviews about their candidacy. Click the link to learn more about them.

President: Jim Sheehan

Treasurer: Jeff Gudman, Robert Vincent

Administration Vice President: Robert Broyles (incumbent)

Program Development Vice President: John Bitter (incumbent)

Program Operations Vice President: Dan McAllen (incumbent)

Technical Vice President: Tim Bauer (incumbent)

Candidates – Zone Directors

Names with links are those with whom we’ve been able to arrange interviews about their candidacy. Click the link to learn more about them.

Central Zone Non-Coach Director: Amy Hoppenrath (incumbent)

Eastern Zone Director: Tristan Formon

Southern Zone Non-Coach Director: Stu Hixon, Clark Hammond (incumbent)

Western Zone Coach Director: Sean Redmond, Michel Lewellyn

(2015-2016 Board of Directors and Zone Directors).

Board members serve a two-year term and may not serve more than two consecutive terms in the same position.  If a member wishes to run for their seat again after their second term, they must wait at least two years.

The full list of USA Swimming committees and committee members is also available for reference on USA Swimming’s website.  Nominations for board of directors seats and Zone Director positions may be hand-delivered at the convention until 12:00 noon on Thursday, September 22nd.  Nominees must be non-athlete members of USA Swimming and must have completed a background check and undergone the Athlete Protection Online Training Course before September 19th, 2016.