By Madeline Folsom on SwimSwam
On Tuesday, USA Swimming CEO Kevin Ring sat down with SwimSwam Editor-in-Chief Braden Keith for an honest conversation.
Keith was able to ask Ring 10 of the ‘hard’ questions about the current state of swimming including the lack of APA increase, his non-swimming background, and whether swimming can really be a professional sport.
Ring gave honest answers, and dropped a few breaking news items, which we have already covered separately. The first breaking news item came about 10 minutes in, and was the fact that for the first time in 15 years, the APA support for professional athletes will be increasing by 15% in January.
The 2nd was about 40 minutes in, and is the creation of a SCM qualifying meet for the 2026 SC World Championships.
He also discussed some burning topics in the sport such as the USA illness during the 2025 World Championships, the lack of USA Swimming membership increase in an Olympic Year, and foreign athletes training in the United States.
You can watch the full interview on Youtube now.
Breakdown
- 2:26 — Katie Ledecky Invite
- 5:18 — Not Having a Swimming Background
- 8:30 — Bringing Diversity to USA Swimming
- 10:25 — Raising Salaries for USAS Athletes
- 13:33 — Generating Revenue as a Professional Sport
- 20:50 — Repairing Relationships with Athletes
- 28:11 — 2025 World Championships
- 33:09 — USAS Membership Decrease
- 42:10 — Membership vs Olympic Success
- 45:24 — SCM Qualification Meet in 2026
- 46:44 — USAS Relationship with the NCAA
- 49:05 — Foreign Athletes Training in the USA
Read the full story on SwimSwam: USA Swimming CEO Kevin Ring Talks About The State of Swimming and Answers the Hard Questions
