By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
The public discourse in the aftermath of the United States’ performance at the 2025 World Championships has been loud.
Despite several American swimmers battling a stomach illness throughout the competition, and the U.S. ultimately topping the medal table with nine gold and 29 total medals, the former being more than the previous two World Championships, their performance has received plenty of criticism—though the intent is primarily directed at USA Swimming leadership.
First, 12-time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte posted a meme on social media that showed a tombstone implying the death of United States swimming, which read, “They set the bar high–until they stopped reaching for it.”
“Call it a funeral, or call it a fresh start. We’ve got three years,” Lochre wrote.
The greatest Olympian of all-time, Michael Phelps, shared the post, commenting: “Is this the wake-up call USA Swimming needed? Let’s find out…..”
Rowdy Gaines, the longtime NBC commentator who himself is a three-time Olympic champion, then came out and publicly criticized the team’s performance, though he was more pointed when discussing USA Swimming and it’s lack of a CEO, calling the organization “rudderless”.
Gaines released an editorial on Wednesday, doubling down on his stance, titling it “Michael Phelps Is Right – And I’m Not Backing Down Either.”
He was referencing what Phelps commented on Lilly King‘s Instagram story (which was reposted as a screenshot by Swim Cellys), with King referencing the public discourse by saying “y’all been real quiet tonight” after the U.S. performed relatively well to close out the competition.
Phelps’ comment read: “We should be so proud of how the team swam as a whole …. Right? Apologies for having higher expectations for the leadership of the team. My opinions were way off. USAS has what they finally want, me to “stay in my lane”. They will continue to help the kids reach childhood dreams by their continued support .”
Things continued on Friday, with USA Swimming interim CEO Bob Vincent releasing a statement in response to the public criticism the team and organization as a whole have received.
Phelps responded again, questioning whether or not the statement was real, and he finished off with: “They’ve shoved us out the door for years. Treated me like a piece of meat through my career. Hopefully it changes someday….”
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? A CALL FOR INPUT
There are a lot of small conversations circulating around the country, on social media, on pool decks, about what moves need to be made to right the USA Swimming ship with less than three years until the LA Olympics.
This is a call for input from SwimSwam readers. A call for specific ideas, concerns, and any other suggestions you might have to turn the organization around.
By creating a space to coalesce all of these small conversations going on, we’re hoping some interesting ideas and ultimately value will come out of it.
Let us know your opinions in the comments below. Personal attacks will not be tolerated. Voices who post their opinions under their real name will be elevated.
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