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USA Triathlon (USAT), America's USOC- and ITU-recognized governing body for the sport of triathlon, announced the departure of its executive director Skip Gilbert.

Tim Yount, a longtime USAT executive whose service spans several executive directors, will take charge of the organization on an interim basis, until a replacement is selected.

No one on USAT's board of directors, or on its staff, would speak on the record as to the reason for Gilbert's departure, or indicated whether it was voluntary or whether Gilbert was asked or ordered to leave. Several members of the organization's board indicated a majority of the board voted to constrain all board members to silence about Gilbert's dismissal, such board-imposed silence extending to USAT's staff as well.

Several sources, some speaking on background, cite a board teleconference taking place on Thursday, August 26th. During that meeting the subject of Gilbert was raised. An objection was tendered, arguing that no discussion of Gilbert was on the meeting agenda, and should therefore not be discussed, per USAT board meeting rules and custom. The objection was overruled by a majority of those attending the meeting. What commenced was labeled by one attendee a "palace coup."

The meeting, according to those who were in attendance to whom Slowtwitch spoke, turned to a question of whether it was appropriate for Gilbert to have granted a contract to his wife's firm for interior design work performed at USAT's offices. According to those to whom Slowtwitch spoke familiar with the work, Gilbert provided disclosure of the conflict of interest prior to any contracts being awarded. Using Gilbert's wife's firm saved the federation thousands of dollars it might otherwise have spent for the work, according to two sources' estimates.

Still, there were legal requirements set forth in Colorado state law as to how conflict of interest notice, and competitive bidding procedures, were to be carried out. These procedures were not followed, and multiple sources maintain that neither USAT's board president(s)—to whom Gilbert reported—nor Gilbert were aware of the legal issues.

Last Thursday's extraordinary agenda item related to whether Gilbert should be censured for an ethical violation due to the failure to conform to the legal non-profit requirements binding USAT. The vote was unanimous that he should be so censured.

What followed at this juncture is unclear. At least one board member reports being unaware, and did not intend, for this censure to lead to Gilbert's dismissal. There seems some confusion as to how the actual vote for dismissal took place if, indeed, there was one. In any case, two board members were already in place in Colorado Springs to inform Gilbert he was no longer USAT's executive director.

Several sources noted, and listed, a variety of grievances that various board members individually harbored against Gilbert, and that some amalgam of these grievances provided the true motives behind the decision to force Gilbert out. That notion was, however, dismissed by one board member, who said that the current board does not succumb to "petty grievances."

It's possible for a board member to disagree with a chief executive without such disagreement acting as the proximate cause of a no-confidence vote. Therefore, no such rumored motives are worth mentioning absent a strong sense that it was a motivating cause in Gilbert's removal. At this time, this reporter knows of no such evidence, accordingly, rumors shall not be presented here.

Gilbert generated friends as well as rivals during his five and-a-half year tenure as USAT's executive director. He had a sometimes rocky relationship with some of the sport's biggest players, including WTC (Ironman) over competitive rules; and with print magazines, and those in the information technology field, as Gilbert sought to experiment with, or execute, an expansion of the federation into business modules in competition with existing triathlon industry companies.

Gilbert, soft-spoken and non-combative by temperament, also raised eyebrows, and the anger of some at the USOC, through a high-profile assault on the compensation and performance of USOC personnel that he thought didn't measure up. Gilbert acted as chairman of ACES (Association for Chief Executives of Sport), a recent confederacy of national governing bodies under the USOC umbrella.

Gilbert undeniably leaves the federation in good hands. He started with an organization that had an annual budget of around $5 million, he leaves it with revenues of $12 million. The federation's all-important "rainy day" fund—there in case the cyclical nature of liability insurance suffers a down cycle—grew from about $2 million to north of $6 million. The number of annual members grew from about 60,000 to its current 135,000.

USAT's board seems careful, however, to give the sport, rather than Gilbert, credit for their organization's growth. The organization released a terse, carefully worded statement on August 30, 2010, announcing Gilbert's departure.

USAT's board president, Brian Harrington, was quoted in the release as saying, "We thank Skip Gilbert for his years of service to triathlon during which the sport grew to unprecedented popularity in the United States and around the world."

The statement withholds granting any causation for the organization's success to Gilbert, rather implying he was simply present during the sport's, and the organization's, meteoric rise.

While not commenting on the lack of magnanimity in USAT's statement Gilbert, predictably, does not see it that way. "I hit a home run based on every measure," he maintains. "It's been a great run. It's a great sport, no regrets, I'm walking away with my head held high."

Gilbert was chosen for his position as USAT's executive director after a search in which 180 applicants figured. This followed a period of board upheaval at USAT, where the USOC took temporary control of the organization while lawsuits and countersuits shook USAT to its core. Legal bills presented to USAT for payment involved in the disputes reached $250,000.

A Blue Ribbon Panel empowered by the USOC stripped USAT's existing board of governance, required new elections, and paved the way for a new set of bylaws revamping election procedures; shortening board members' terms of service; stiffening term limits; requiring disclosure and transparency of board actions and meetings; and installing a set of voting regions that kept population centers from exerting board dominance. Over the years, the board has evolved certain of these bylaws.

Gilbert's leaving is the second high profile exodus during August. High performance coordinator Scott Schnitzpahn left to fill a similar position at the USOC. Multiple sources are adamant that the two departures are disconnected, and Schnitzpahn's departure was for a plum job that several sources said, "he could not refuse."

Gilbert's service of more than 5 years might be considered remarkable given the history of USAT's board, and prior boards' predisposition toward rancor. Nevertheless, Skip Gilbert's tenure at USAT is over.

"It's been an honor to serve the sport," Gilbert said. "It's been an honor to serve the constituent base, I leave with high hopes for where multipsort and the multisport lifestyle will be going in the future."

All USAT board members, save Melissa Merson and Jim Ryun, were contacted for this story. Several participated. Others refused. Some referred me to Brian Harrington. "As President," said one board member, "he speaks for the board." All the factual elements of this article relating to the meeting were presented to Harrington for comment and correction. While Harrington has been helpful, cordial and responsive, no corrections to the above narrative have been forthcoming. Accordingly, the narrative above is presented according to the memory of those in the meeting who attended. If there are factual misrepresentations, they are unintended, and Slowtwitch has taken every step within reason to make certain the events are accurate. If at some later date other members of USAT's board care to express a memory of the events that are at variance with those presented above, Slowtwitch will do its best to add greater precision to the narrative. That established, the narrative above was generated using primary sources, usually multiple sources.

All photos (c) Tim Carlson