FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 18, 2002

Colorado Springs, CO

Essick Set to Put a New Spin on Table Tennis

USA Table Tennis, the national governing body for the sport, today named Ray B. Essick as its Executive Director. He will assume duties at their headquarters in Colorado Springs on March 19, 2002.

Essick has come out of nearly five years of retirement to accept this position. He was Executive Director of USA Swimming for over 20 years (having come on board in 1976 as the Swimming Administrator for the AAU Competitive Swimming Committee). He left Swimming in 1997. During his tenure, Swimming moved to the forefront of Olympic sports and led the movement in administrative growth and technical success. The U.S. dominated Olympic swimming during the Atlanta and Sydney Olympic Games.

Prior to entering sports administration, Essick coached swimming at Harvard, Southern Illinois-Carbondale and New Trier Township High School in Illinois. He was also the Men’s Coach of the 1971 U.S. Pan American Team that won all the gold medals except one and the U.S. Hapoel Games Team. His teams were successful at all levels, including clubs in different locations.

He has served on many USOC Committees and chaired the Athlete Performance Group that was responsible for the PODIUM program. The program is credited with the success of the USA teams in Salt Lake City. He is an active member of several national and local Boards related to sport and recreation.

Reflecting on his new challenge, Essick commented, "I have missed the Olympic movement and the excitement of sports after having been a player, coach and administrator my whole life. I’m looking forward to further developing USATT administratively and technically. With the recreational base of the sport and volunteer leadership of the association, we should be able to identify and develop athletes who will take us to success in international competition."

Essick resides in Colorado Springs and is a graduate of the University of Illinois, holding both Bachelors and Masters degrees in Physical Education. He and his wife Toni have four children and six grandchildren

USATT President Sheri Pittman remarked, "Ray has a soft spot in his heart for the game that, as a youth, he had enjoyed competing in regularly. He was particularly intrigued by the joint marketing opportunities with China to showcase table tennis in conjunction with promotional activities leading up to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, where table tennis is the national sport. Ray’s passion for excellence will be a blessing to our current and future members."

For further information contact:

Ray B. Essick

(719) 866-4583

ed@usatt.org