'Went against our will"- Regan Smith calls out USA swimming interim CEO amid struggles with stipend and drop in global dominance

Olympic champion swimmer Regan Smith recently opened up about the struggles with the stipend and the USA's drop in global dominance in swimming. She also called out the interim CEO of USA Swimming, Bob Vincent, for allegedly ignoring the problems of the current squad.

Smith was invited to the GMM podcast organized by the SwimSwam channel, where she talked about multiple issues currently troubling USA Swimming. The 23-year-old swimmer acknowledged that the USA is not as powerful in swimming as it used to be, but it is more due to the rising competition than anything else.

Smith mentioned in the podcast that the foreign swimmers who reap benefits from American institutions don't have to cross multiple hurdles like their American counterparts. In her words,

"They [foreign swimmers] are coming and getting our excellent coaching, they get our great facilities at Texas. And so they get to reap our benefits, but then they don't have to go through a lot of the hoops that us as US athletes have to go through. For example, double trials" [25:20 onwards]

Smith called out the interim CEO of USA Swimming as she added,

"Um, also like their stipend situation. Their federation pays for much more than our federation pays for. And I think for example, 3 weeks after World Champ Trials, Bob [interim CEO of USA swimming Bob Vincent] had a dozen of us go back to Indianapolis for the Indie Summer Cup, and we all went against our will. We didn't want to go. But I know that the international people, it's like their federation, I think, and if I'm wrong, I'm sorry guys, I don't mean to give false information, but I'm pretty sure that the federation pays for their trip, right?"

Regan Smith was last seen in action at the World Aquatics Championships held in Singapore. Smith won a gold medal in the women's 4x100m medley event, as well as four silver medals in the women's 50m backstroke, 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke, and the women's 200m butterfly events, respectively.

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When Regan Smith talked about her experience at the Paris Olympics

Regan Smith [Extreme left] at the Paris Olympics [Image Source: Getty]

Regan Smith recounted her impressive outing at the Paris Olympics, which was held last year. In her conversation with the Olympics.com website, the 23-year-old swimmer mentioned,

“I had spent five months on the road living out of a suitcase, and I was exhausted. I just wanted to live for myself and do things on my own time and not be bound down to anyone else's schedule. So I went on vacation with two of my good friends, one of them being [USA teammate] Kate Douglass. And took a big break from swimming. I didn't really touch water for a full month."

Smith further added,

“I wanted to play the long game and set myself up well for this next quad and enjoy the success that I felt in Paris for as long as possible.”

Regan Smith added five more Olympic medals to her tally with the quadrennial event held in Paris. The 23-year-old swimmer contributed to two gold medals in the women's 4x100m medley, as well as the mixed 4x100m medley event. Smith also won three silver medals in the women's 100m backstroke, the women's 200m backstroke, and the women's 200m butterfly events, respectively.