Swimming Hall of Fame Board Responds to Charges Made in Former Chairman’s Resignation Letter

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., August 13. THE Executive Committee of the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) today issued the following statement in reaction to the resignation last July 26 of former Chairman of the Board, Dale Neuburger:

"On July 26, 2004, Dale Neuburger resigned from our organization's Board of Directors (the "Board"). Mr. Neuburger had been Chairman of the Board since January 2004 and a Director since 1998. As a Director and as Chairman, Mr. Neuberger had a fiduciary relationship to ISHOF requiring him to identify and address for the Board any concerns that he had about the organization.

"Mr. Neuburger's letter of resignation contained many allegations, which the Board has investigated and will continue to do so until they are fully and fairly evaluated. Thus far, the Board has determined that Mr. Neuburger's statements are largely unsubstantiated. Contrary to Mr. Neuburger’s claim of being thwarted in regard to responding to specific concerns of ISHOF Honorees, he did not follow the Board’s directive to respond to their concerns. He in fact rebuffed several requests from Executive Board members to respond.

"Mr. Neuburger claimed in his letter that ISHOF lacks financial oversight. Despite his fiduciary obligations to ISHOF, Mr. Neuburger never raised these concerns to the Executive Committee or to the entire Board. Mr. Neuburger's allegations are simply untrue. Mr. Neuburger claims to have made repeated requests for information within ISHOF. We have confirmed that Mr. Neuburger's inquiries were always answered in an expeditious manner. The Treasurer, auditor and bookkeeper have confirmed that Mr. Neuburger made no inquiries to them.

"Mr. Neuburger implied that Dr. Sam Freas's plan to raise $14 million for constructing sports facilities, should ISHOF ultimately relocate to Daytona Beach, was unsubstantiated. Additionally, Mr. Neuburger questioned the expected economic and tourism impact for Daytona Beach from ISHOF and national sports governing bodies. Contrary to Mr. Neuburger's statements, we have confirmed that all of Dr. Freas's statements in presentations to the City of Daytona Beach were fair and reasonable in their entirety. Again, Mr. Neuburger never raised these concerns to the Executive Committee or to the entire Board, despite his fiduciary responsibilities to ISHOF.

"The Board takes seriously any comments in the nature of those raised by Mr. Neuburger. We will conduct a full and balanced investigation and, upon its conclusion, will publicly release and share the results.

"The Board remains committed to furthering the aquatic sports through the mission of ISHOF and will continue to do so in spite of efforts to undermine ISHOF."

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