It is charged with selecting the United States Olympic Swimming team and any other teams that officially represent the United States, as well as the overall organization and operation of the sport within the country, in accordance with the Olympic and Amateur Sports Act.

Prior to the existence of USS, the AAU, or the Amateur Athletic Union, served as the governing body for swimming and other sports across the country.

This act made each sport set up its own national governing body (NGB).

This process was made more interesting because the United States boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics and, during this time, the leadership of the sport was in flux.

The AAU still holds several aquatic events, but it is no longer the official governing body of the sport.

Through the national headquarters, the organization provides various programs and services to its members, supporters, affiliates and the interested public.

The office of the President is the head of the board and is responsible for the overall direction of USA Swimming.

The chief executive is the head of the staff located at the national headquarters in Colorado Springs at the Olympic Training Center.

The chief executive is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the organization at the national level.

Within the definition of an invitational meet, there are dozens of different styles of scoring and placing but the standard method is described here.

These meets are also of the invitational format, but the entry time standards are even higher so that only the fastest swimmers of Zones qualify.

The National Championships are also of the invitational meet format and offer extremely high level competition.

Since this meet offers such a coveted prize (a spot on the US Olympic Team) it never fails to attract the absolute fastest in the sport of swimming in the United States.

However, even though this is a faster meet and would actually offer a truer indication of who is the fastest swimmer in the United States, the winner of each event in this meet is not officially considered a National Champion and this meet is NOT held in place of the National Championships every 4 years (although the Nationals are generally not held when the Olympic Trials occur, or other selection trials).

[14] In 2021, USA Swimming debuted a two wave structure for the 2020 US Olympic Trials in response to social distancing requirements due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The records are the fastest swims by an American swimmer for the specified age group, gender, and event.

For both distances the age group breakdown for individual events is the same for boys and girls: 10 & under, 11–12, 13–14, 15–16, and 17–18 year olds.

[21] USA Swimming started a YouTube channel on September 21, 2009 where it publishes a variety of swimming-centric videos covering topics such as races, athlete reactions, and training pointers.

[22] Occasionally it features athletes providing a glimpse into their daily training and nutrition routines, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic.

[23][24] It also produces a series entitled "Off the Blocks", which features various high-profile swimmers and coaches opening up about different aspects of their training and racing.

[36] Prior to 2021, the awards were handed out at various organizational events including the United States Aquatic Sports Convention.

[37] The coach of the year award began in 1996 with its first winner being Murray Stephens from North Baltimore swimming.

Eddie Reese of the University of Texas at Austin currently holds the most coach of the year awards at 19.

As with several other U.S. sports governing bodies, USA Swimming dealt with accusations of sexual abuse, resulting in several lawsuits and prompting changes in U.S. federal law.

Several high-profile coaches were banned for life a couple of decades after their alleged abuses took place.

[39] In 2013, former Olympic team coach Mitch Ivey was banned as the result of allegations dating back to the 1970s.

[40] In 2018, an investigation by the Orange County Register found hundreds of swimmers whose claims of sexual abuse had allegedly been mishandled or ignored by USA Swimming.

[41] In 2020, six swimmers sued USA Swimming, accusing former executive director Chuck Wielgus and other officials at the national, state and club level of failing to address behavior by Ivey, former U.S. national team director Everett Uchiyama and former coach Andy King, the latter of whom was serving 40 years in prison after pleading no contest to 20 child molestation charges.

[42] American activists also blocked Wielgus from being inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2014.