USA Surfing has named Greg Hulsizer as CEO to take the helm of the San Clemente nonprofit serving as the national governing body for the sport in the LA28 Olympic Games.
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Hulsizer is a well-known fixture in San Clemente who has been surfing the Olympic venue, Lower Trestles, for five decades. He will officially start his role June 7, with current CEO Becky Fleischauer stepping aside for health reasons.
“I’ve spent more than 50 years surfing Lower Trestles. Those waves helped shape who I am,” said Hulsizer, who calls San Clemente home. “To now lead USA Surfing into a home Olympics at a place that has meant so much to me personally is both humbling and deeply meaningful.”
“We’re entering this next chapter from a position of strength,” he added about the organization. “LA28 gives us a unique opportunity to support our athletes as they pursue Olympic success, grow the sport, inspire the next generation, and help ensure American surfing thrives for generations to come. That’s the legacy we’re committed to building.”
USA Surfing has long been the pathway to professional surfing, the organization priming young amateur surfers as they fine tune their skills in competition, but also creating avenues for other disciplines within the sport such as stand-up paddling, longboarding and adaptive surfing.
Thousands of athletes go through the program each year from across the country, the top champions ending up on the elite World Tour and the Olympic stage.
For Fleischauer, originally from the East Coast, the beach was a place she fell in love with while facing breast cancer in 2011, relocating to New Jersey to be on the coast before moving to Oceanside. Her PR firm was hired to help USA Surfing in 2019, and she was named CEO in 2021.
Her task at the time was to not just oversee the nonprofit’s day-to-day operations, but also get USA Surfing recertified as the sport’s official national governing body. USA Surfing had voluntarily decertified in order to straighten out its management and organizational structure following issues the USOPC had with the reporting of funds.
Fleischauer and her staff faced a challenge from US Ski and Snowboard, a Utah-based group that pitched taking over surfing as the governing board and folding the sport into its portfolio. But earlier this year, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee named USA Surfing as the official governing board, allowing it to gain funding for training, promotion and other necessities ahead of and during the LA28 Olympics.
“Surfing is endlessly beautiful and relevant and so powerful in its imagery and storylines and athletes,” Fleischauer said. “I just look forward to the world getting to see that because the Olympics is the world’s largest sporting stage.”
Fleischauer called it a privilege and opportunity of a lifetime to lead USA Surfing.
“The surfers and the families I’ve come to know and love, they’ve been family,” she said. “The surfing I’ve been able to see around the world — I feel truly blessed.”
She has led the organization, she said, while focusing on two goals: support American surfers for podium success and setting up a system that will serve a community of surfers for generations, long after the LA Games are over.
“It’s been an honor. This sport, the culture, the team of staff, the surfers and the families and coaches I’ve been able to get to know so well, they are everything,” she said. “It’s the best job.”
Lora Bodmer, a parent of an up-and-coming surfer and newly named press officer for the organization, said Fleischauer has a genuine care for every single surfer in the program, and that set the tone for the organization.
“She was dedicated to making every surfer feel valued and supported, and an important member of the program,” Bodmer said.
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Her son, Wilson, 12, will be competing at the upcoming USA Surfing championships, following his dream just like countless others who have been through the program’s ranks, including Olympic gold medalists Caroline Marks and Carissa Moore.
“I knew how much this programming and organization means to surfers, especially the juniors,” Bodmer said.
Under Fleischauer’s tenure, USA Surfing also doubled its revenue and staffing, launched a Power Your Performance workshop series, strengthened its high-performance program, and expanded its live broadcasts.
Fleischauer also worked to forge a multiyear endowment from Kamaka Responsible Development.
It’s an important time for Hulsizer to take over the leadership, she said, as USA Surfing generates more relationships with brands and companies to support as sponsors.
Hulsizer said he is “beyond stoked” for the opportunity.
“This is the biggest moment in American surfing and the biggest opportunity is here,” he said of the surf break located just steps from San Clemente, wedged between Orange and San Diego counties. “Becky and USA Surfing have created such a legacy of strength.”
Now, with the certification as the official national governing body, USA Surfing is poised to be stronger and bigger than ever, Hulsizer said.
“We expect to deliver podium success at the Olympics, but beyond that building a legacy of surfers, young surfers, who will compete in future Olympics to represent the US for decades to come.”
For Hulsizer, the role is a perfect mix that combines his love for surfing and his business background as CEO for several high-development organizations.
Hulsizer has more than 40 years of experience leading and transforming organizations in the public and private sectors, with executive leadership positions across nine organizations, including four CEO roles.
He also serves as president of the San Clemente Lifeguard & Junior Guard Foundation, and is a recognizable figure in San Clemente and beyond who often holds community events to inspire the next generation of lifeguards, surfers and ocean enthusiasts.
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“Greg Hulsizer is the right person to lead this organization into the most consequential moment in its history,” Rob Pendergist, chair of the USA Surfing board of directors, said in a statement. “Becky leaves him an organization that has earned its place on the Olympic stage with financial stability, strong governance, and high-performance operations. She also brought a personal touch and genuine care for every surfer in the USA Surfing universe that set the tone for the entire organization.”
“Now we continue to build,” Pendergist added. “With LA28 on the horizon and the world coming to Lower Trestles, this is a defining moment for American surfing, and we are stoked to have Greg taking the helm.”
USA Surfing has a busy few weeks ahead, with the USA Surfing Championships in Oceanside running from June 7-12 for Para Surf, Longboard, Adult Shortboard, SUP Surf, and Prone disciplines. The competing surfers are chasing a spot on national teams with hopes of qualifying for the Pan American Games.
Then, the USA Surfing Junior Championships happen from June 16–20 at Lower Trestles.
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Every Team USA Olympic surfing competitor has come through this event.