USA Swimming Staff Out and About

10/31/2013

Because USA Swimming is a member-driven organization, the staff is often on the road meeting with coaches, athletes and other stakeholders.  Here’s a look at this past week:
Mighty 2500 LSC Leadership Workshop
USA Swimming will host the Mighty 2500 LSC Leadership Workshop for representatives from the 19 smallest LSCs in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Nov. 2.  These LSCs each have fewer than 2500 registered athletes making their programming and issues somewhat different than larger LSCs.  The workshop will last from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Olympic Training Center.  Multiple USA Swimming staff members will be in attendance including Chuck Wielgus, Pat Hogan, Frank Busch, Sue Anderson, Tom Avischious, Mick Nelson, Randy Julian, Bill Krumm, Peter Clark and Manny Banks. 

The three main topics covered will be athlete development, LSC leadership/board development and strengthening clubs/club development.  The topics were determined by the LSCs themselves with the agenda developed by a task force of the LSC Development Committee.  The goal is that the representatives will share successes, learn new information, and take great ideas home to benefit their membership. 

Rhonda Marable, Multicultural Public Relations Manager
Marable brought partnership liaison Secenario Jones of Sigma Gamma Rho to the second annual Sports Diversity and Inclusion Symposium hosted by the U.S. Olympic Committee, which ran from Oct. 22-23 in Colorado Springs, Colo. Marable and Jones not only watched engaging panels dealing with women in sports leadership, LGBT issues in sports, and disability in sports, but also participated in lively small-group discussions. 

“The symposium gave me many things to think about while crafting diversity and inclusion-focused programs and promotional opportunities for USA Swimming,” said Marable. “ This year’s symposium had a mix of information for NGBs and large-scale sports companies but Jason Thompson, the Director of Diversity for the USOC and organizer of the event, was very open to hearing feedback on growing the event next year.” 

The Sports Diversity and Inclusion Symposium gathered all levels of professionals from major sports leagues like NFL, PGA and NASCAR along with national governing bodies and the sports industry to discuss emerging trends and best-practices for diversity and inclusion efforts around the country. 
Russell Mark, High Performance Consultant
Mark was named one of seven finalists for the Nick Broad Award for Emerging Talent – part of the Sports Performance Awards by Leadership Performance Magazine.  Russell has worked at USA Swimming for over a decade and has played a critical role in assisting with the technical advancement of the National Team athletes. 

“I’m flattered and humbled to be recognized for doing something that I feel truly fortunate to do,” said Mark. “ I’m constantly challenging myself to learn and give back to a sport that has given me so much.”