By Phillip Whitten<\/p>\n
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, May 8. THE Board of Directors of the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) voted unanimously this afternoon to retain President and CEO Dr. Sam Freas.<\/p>\n
The decision came after a marathon, seven-hour meeting of the board. More than five hours of that meeting was held behind closed doors.<\/p>\n
The unanimous decision came as a surprise to some observers, who predicted that Dr. Freas would be asked to step down following the Board's receipt of a petition endorsed by 22 Hall of Fame honorees, demanding that Freas resign. The group included Mark Spitz, Greg Louganis, Mary T Meagher, Donna DeVarona, John Naber, Mike Troy, Bill Yorzyk, Pat McCormick and Debbie Meyer, among others. <\/p>\n
The meeting began late this morning with Tim O'Brien, an Olympian and the head diving coach at Fort Lauderdale since 1996, reading a statement from his father, eight-time Olympic coach Ron O'Brien; and Jack Nelson, head swim coach at Fort Lauderdale and a two-time Olympic swimmer and Olympic swim coach also reading a statement calling for Freas' resignation. Both Ron O'Brien and Jack Nelson are ISHOF honorees.<\/p>\n
Denying that his position was either personally or politically motivated, O'Brien wrote: "My stance is based on the fact that ISHOF is not in a better position today than it was when Dr. Freas began his tenure. In my opinion, it is in worse shape.<\/p>\n
"If a team or organization does not move forward over a significant span of time, the leader or the coach is the place where change is made," he added.<\/p>\n
After the vote, Dale Neuburger, Chairman of the Board of Directors, told SwimInfo<\/b>: "There were a number of valid issues raised by the group calling for Sam's resignation. But the fault for these problems does not lie entirely with Sam. Let's be honest: the Board must share in the blame because we haven't done our job of setting goals and criteria for success.<\/p>\n
Neuburger went on: "We take these issues very seriously. We plan to contact each of the honorees who supported the petition and we will try our hardest to address and be responsive to their concerns. I hope they will see that we are being responsive and are making appropriate changes, and that they will not carry through on their threat to withdraw from the Hall. After all, the Hall is<\/i> the honorees.<\/p>\n
Jack Geoghegan, a veteran member of the Board who is stepping down after this year, added: "This was a very long meeting, but it was the best Board of Directors meeting I've ever attended. <\/p>\n
"Every issue was addressed, everyone was brutally candid, and nothing was left unsaid," he reflected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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