Chrissi Rawak won’t take over as USA Swimming CEO due to ‘unforeseen personal circumstances’

USA Swimming is once again looking for a new boss. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

In a surprise reversal, Chrissi Rawak won’t be taking over USA Swimming.

The sports’s national governing body announced Friday it is no longer hiring the Delaware athletic director as president and CEO “due to unforeseen personal circumstances that we learned about late this week.”

Interim CEO Shana Ferguson will remain in place in the meantime. The statement did not provide a timeline on when it would find its next hire, or if it would follow a similar process.

USA Swimming had previously announced Rawak’s hiring last week, citing her “decades of experience leading successful sports organizations” and noting the importance of her guidance “during a pivotal stretch leading up to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.”

A collegiate swimmer at Michigan, Rawak had spent eight years as the athletic director at Delaware and won the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics’ Athletic Director of the Year in 2024. She was set to helm USA Swimming after it moved on from Tim Hinchey following the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Those Games were seen as a significant failure for the American swimming team. While they led all countries in both gold medals (eight) and total medals (28), that gold count was behind their total in 2020 (11) and well short of their bonanza in 2016 (16). After years of domination by Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Katie Ledecky and more, the unit seemed lacking in its usual wunderkind talent, and taking silver 13 times was also bitter at times.

Per Sports Business Journal, Rawak had not yet taken over the organization, or even moved to Colorado Springs. USA Swimming is also in the process of hiring a new national team managing director after the exit of Lindsay Mintenko, in which it said it was making “very good process.”

The full release, via Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated:

USA Swimming today announced that, due to unforeseen personal circumstances that we learned about late this week, Chrissi Rawak will not assume the role of President and CEO. Shana Ferguson remains in place as Interim CEO.

While this outcome is not what we expected or hoped for, we maintain the utmost confidence in the strength of our organization, leadership team, staff, and strategic direction. The Board and leadership team of USA Swimming are working closely together to continue advancing the organization’s priorities, including our search for the next National Team Managing Director where we are making very good progress.

We remain fully committed to supporting our members and athletes as we prepare for the World Aquatics Championships this summer.