USAAS Hires New Athlete Safety and Membership Coordinator

Colorado Springs, CO – Monica Velazquez-Stiak has been hired as the Athlete Safety and Membership Coordinator for USA Artistic Swimming and will begin to take on some of her roles and responsibilities in April before relocating to Colorado in June 2021.

Velazquez-Stiak was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. She currently resides in Columbus, Ohio where she graduated in 2020 with her Masters in Sport Management from The Ohio State University. She also holdsa Bachelor of Science in Sport Industry and a minor in Leadership Studies from the institution. As a Buckeye, Velazquez-Stiak won three national championships with the varsity synchronized swimming team. During her collegiate athletic career, she also earned the accolades of 2018 Synchro Athlete of the Year, four-time All-American and 2018 Big Ten Medal of Honor Nominee. Monica is certainly no stranger to the sport or organization, as she competed as a four-time national team athlete, most recently competing in the 2017 World Championships. 

Professionally, Velazquez-Stiak previously served as the Assistant Director of Camps and Clinics for Ohio State Athletics. In this role she assisted in hosting and planning youth sports clinics for the university's 36 varsity teams.

As a former collegiate and national team artistic swimming athlete, Monica provides a unique perspective on the inner-workings of the sport and will prove an asset as USA Artistic Swimming works to build on athlete representation in leadership roles. Monica will have responsibility over athlete safety responsibilities as well as membership experience and inquires. She will also useher athletic talents to assist with coaching the national teams and serve as an instructor educational camps and programming events. Monica will begin her USAAS career on-deck at the championships in Mesa, Arizona this month. 

Monica Velazquez-Stiak describes her enthusiasm for her new role: “I am beyond thrilled to start working with USA Artistic Swimming and make the move to Colorado Springs! It means so much to me that I get to continue to grow in this sport and make a positive impact on future generations of swimmers."