Just over a month after Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte publicly took shots at USA Swimming, and more than a year after Tim Hinchey resigned, the organization finally has a new president and CEO in place for the foreseeable future.
That’s Kevin Ring, who’s currently the president of golf for Legends, a premium live events company that offers data-driven solutions for brands and venues across sports and entertainment. Before his three-year run at Legends, Ring spent close to a decade at PGA of America, serving as Chief Revenue Officer and, prior to that, Chief Marketing Officer. Earlier in his career, he was the vice president of IMG Consulting and managing director for IMG’s Golf Consulting practice.
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While his recent history is tied to the golf industry, Ring has experience working with clients associated with MLB, the U.S. Tennis Association and Formula 1. He started at IMG as a digital project manager, helping create digital sponsorship strategy for 2002 World Cup Soccer platforms.
Ring acknowledged in his USA Swimming CEO announcement video Wednesday that swimming is new to him, but he emphasized the sense of urgency he will be leading with, given the 2028 LA Olympics are fast approaching.
“While I may be new to swimming, over the course of my career, I’ve had the opportunity to work in global sports and membership-driven organizations,” Ring said in the video. “I’ve seen firsthand how powerful strong community can be when it comes together behind a shared vision. That’s exactly what I want to bring to USA Swimming: clear direction, strong support and meaningful opportunities for everyone involved in our sport.”
Ring added: “We don’t have the luxury of time. The LA28 Olympic Games are less than three years away, and the spotlight on our sport has never been brighter. We must move with urgency, with unity and with ambition. It’s both a challenge and an incredible opportunity to elevate swimming in the United States for our national team athletes, age group swimmers, coaches and clubs for the road ahead. We need to invest in programs that make swimming more accessible, inclusive and sustainable for the future.”
That investment is what Phelps called for in detail last month.
Lochte and Phelps — six-time and 23-time Olympic gold medalists, respectively — both shared an Instagram post during USA Swimming’s slow start to the 2025 World Championships. The meme they circulated suggested USA Swimming was dead.
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Later that month, after USA Swimming rallied to pile up the most gold medals and total medals in the event, Phelps used his own Instagram post to elaborate on his frustration with the organization.
Phelps clarified that his issues lie with USA Swimming, the organization, not with the athletes that represent it. He pointed out that USA Swimming won only 44% of the medals it competed for in the 2024 Paris Olympics, which, according to Phelps, is the lowest such percentage the U.S. has posted in the sport during the Games since 1988.
Phelps specifically targeted those at the top of USA Swimming in the Aug. 13 social media post, citing “poor operational controls and weak leadership” as “the cornerstone of the sport’s problems.” Phelps volunteered himself to help find a solution and called out USA Swimming for not providing adequate support to its athletes, who Phelps noted have been declining in numbers.
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Ring will now be under the microscope following Hinchey’s resignation, as well as the February resignation of Chrissi Rawak. The former University of Delaware AD briefly served as USA Swimming’s CEO but had to step down after not disclosing a SafeSport report during the organization’s vetting process.
In between, USA Swimming has had two interim CEOs, Shana Ferguson — who took a job at LA28 in March — and then Bob Vincent.
Starting on Sept. 17, Ring will be in charge. He’ll be tasked with increasing membership from a grassroots level on up and driving revenue growth for a sport that will be on full display in the 2028 LA Olympics.
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