A Controversial Change of Leadership at USA Water Polo
Swimming World just published a story of mine on their website about Jamie Davis being hired as the new CEO for USA Water Polo. In a long association with SW it’s not my favorite story —this one is!—but it’s an important one.
The piece came together quickly; I got a tip that the USAWP board was going to vote on Davis, who for the past seven years has been CEO for USA Volleyball. Once I got confirmation this was true, I had to figure out: Who the heck is Jamie Davis?
[USA Water Polo Selecting Jamie Davis, of USA Volleyball, as New CEO]
Readers can judge whether or not I did my homework on the organization’s new CEO; I did NOT make the grade on USAWP’s finances. According to spokesman Greg Mescall, they’ve done quite well the last few years and grown revenue to $16 million with an additional $6 million in reserve (I used a lower figure). This is an important omission; one question that kept coming up during my research was: Why would Davis, coming from a significantly larger national governing body ($38 million in revenue, 425,000 members) jump ship to a smaller NGB? Well, USAWP is not THAT much smaller.
My question about the search is different—and it’s one overshadowed in the piece: How could the greatest Olympic water polo coach in American history not get the job?
Adam Krikorian taking an Olympic dip after Tokyo gold medal win. Photo: FINA
Adam Krikorian has been a winner at every level of water polo. He won a national championship as senior at UCLA in 1995—the first time the Bruins captured an NCAA title since 1972—then crushed it coaching the Bruins’ men and women. From 2003 - 2009 the UCLA women won six-straight titles, among eight they won during Krikorian’s tenure; he also won three titles coaching the UCLA men, all during a decade in Westwood. When he left in 2009 to take over the US women’s national team, he was among the winningest active coaches in NCAA sports; only Anson Dorrance, head coach for the UNC women’s soccer team from 1982-2012 captured more national championships (21).
He’s been even better as national team coach. The list of his accomplishments is staggering; three Olympic golds, six world aquatics championships, 11 World League Super Final crowns. A 69-match win streak—likely the longest in international women’s water polo.
[US Women Take Water Polo Streak to 69; Aussie Sharks put bite on US Men]
All Krikorian does is win, win, win—and inspire tremendous loyalty (only among his players, apparently). The group of American women who will compete for gold at the 2024 Olympics in Paris includes four-time Olympian Maggie Steffens, four three-time Olympians—Rachel Fattal, Kaleigh Gilchrist, Ashleigh Johnson, Maddie Musselman—and Amanda Longan, a two-time Olympian. This is the core of the team Krikorian is preparing for a fourth top of the podium finish. If they accomplish this the US women's squad will separate themselves from the Hungarian men’s teams that won in 2000, 2004 and 2008, among the best team-sport performances in Olympic history.
If his team does win gold in Paris, Krikorian will be thought of in the same light as the incomparable Ratko Rudic (four golds with three different countries) and Denes Kemény, architect of those great Hungarian sides Even if he doesn’t win, why wouldn’t you want Krikorian to be the head of your organization? For 16 years Krikorian’s done his best work at USAWP, succeeding at everything asked of him. Sure, he’s well paid—a base salary (in 2022) of $350,000. His boss, Chris Ramsey, the current USAWP CEO who is retiring following the Paris Games, made a base salary of $475,000 in 2022. So USAWP wouldn’t have to give Krikorian much of a raise.
But the USAWP board picked Davis, who in 2022 had a base pay of $590,000. He may be a fantastic choice; from the look of it he’s done an admirable job of growing volleyball in the US. That USOC experience—plus bringing in more cash—may be what the organization’s top decision-makers value most.
US women’s water polo team celebrate a third-straight gold in Tokyo. Photo: Sports Illustrated
Certainly it’s not experience with their own organization; given the board’s choice you have to wonder if USAWP simply doesn’t value the people who work for them. John Abdou, for five years the organization’s Chief High Performance Officer, was another CEO candidate. In my experience he was an active, professional presence at USAWP events and international tournaments, and was both visible and accessible (which a reporter always appreciates). He also got passed over—though leaving in 2022 probably doomed his candidacy, unless he was encouraged to expand his resume to make him more attractive as a CEO.
Maybe Krikorian doesn’t want the job; in fact, his name surfacing as a candidate right now is likely an unwelcome distraction from Olympic preparations. I’m not going to ask him about this (now).
An email sent to me by a long-time water polo coach not happy with the new hire—he called it “From a Ballerina to a Volleyballer”—underscores the gap between USAWP leadership and the sport’s most passionate followers in America. “Ballerina” is how long-time polo people refer to Ramsey.
Apparently the feeling is mutual; passing over Krikorian for the CEO position says experienced water polo professionals need not apply to lead the NGB for the sport in America.