week1

I. Overview

A. Mission Statement

TYR Sport is an organization dedicated to producing apparel and equipment for swimming

and triathlon athletes. Their mission reads, “From the planning stages to the production floor,

everything we do revolves around synthesizing creativity, experience and sheer will power. For

us, engineering the fastest, most advanced performance products is more than just a goal, it’s a

requirement ” (TYR Sport Inc., n.d.). Furthermore, TYR Sport has partnered with USA

Swimming to bring national and international swimmers to compete in preparation for the

Olympic Games through the event TYR Pro Swim Series. And in respect to the partnership,

USA Swimming’s mission states, “We promote the culture of swimming by creating safe and

healthy opportunities for athletes and coaches of all backgrounds to participate and advance in

the sport through clubs, events and education” (“Overview”, n.d.).

Expanding the TYR Pro Swim Series into an international market aligns with both TYR

Sport and USA Swimming’s mission statements as they are to promote and introduce their best

at an international event. The TYR Pro Swim Series already serves as a global stage, considering

USA Swimming Chief Commercial Officer Shana Ferguson’s statement, “We are fortunate to

have incredible partners and strong local clubs’ support as we showcase the world’s greatest

athletes in communities throughout the U.S. We will continue to use the TYR Pro Swim Series

to provide more exposure to the best in international competition” (USA Swimming, 2020).

B. Current State

Currently, the TYR Pro Swim Series only takes place in the U.S. and is organized by USA

Swimming. Specifically, “The TYR Pro Swim Series is a 3.5-day long course event televised on

NBCSN, the Olympic Channel, as well as live streamed at usaswimming.org. Historically, each

stop attracts between 400-600 of the world’s top swimmers including, USA Swimming National

Team members, Junior National Team members and top-50 world ranked swimmers” (USA

Swimming, 2020). Additionally, the 2019 TYR Pro Swim Series had “more than 1,100 domestic

and international athletes participating in at least one of the five events and prize money totaling

more than $540,000” (USA Swimming, 2020).

But an increased popularity of the TYR Pro Swim Series has led to public criticism of the

lack of diversity in their partners USA Swimming. The USA Swimming Foundation is composed

of hundreds of thousands of year-round, seasonal and non-athlete members across the nation,

from recreational and water safety programs to elite and national levels, the organization is a

recognizable one nationwide. Though USA Swimming has gone off to win over 500 Olympic

medals, yet it was nearly four years ago in August 2016 that Simon Manuel became the first

African-American female to win an individual Olympic gold medal (Donella, 2016). After her

win, Manuel said, “I hope I’m an inspiration to others to get out there and try swimming. You

might be pretty good at it” (Donella, 2016).

C. Goal

The overall goal of this business plan will be to expand the TYR Pro Swim Series to Mexico.

The chosen country is a suitable international market to expand to as it partakes in the event and

it’s geographically closest to the U.S. with a warmer climate. Also, MacIntosh, Bravo and Li

(2020) reveal that in Mexico, “An overall increase in the standard of living, technological

advances in communications, more government involvement, and the expansion of global

corporatism have all boosted the popularity of sport across the region” (p. 50). The expansion

will help promote diversity in the sport of swim and help increase its awareness by encouraging

people to consume it, because studies have shown “that nearly 60 percent of Latino children [in

the U.S.] can’t swim” (Beans, 2016).