By Phillip Whitten<\/p>\n
PHOENIX, March 22. THE turmoil surrounding the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) and the vote to choose a successor to Dr. Sam Freas as President of the Hall, continued to swirl this morning as the Board of Directors failed to name a new head of the organization.<\/p>\n
For the past three months a search committee, headed by Canadian Elvin Godfrey, a member of the ISHOF Board of Directors, has labored to choose a new president. From the beginning, Dale Neuburger, who recently resigned as head of the Indiana Sports Corporation, has been the favorite to be picked for the post. Neuburger, a Vice President of FINA, swimming\u2019s international governing body, is currently President of US Aquatic Sports and is a former president of USA Swimming. In fact, Neuburger reportedly came within two votes of being offered the job in January without any search being done at all.<\/p>\n
Fifteen candidates applied for the position. Four were chosen as semifinalists and then two were selected as finalists: Neuburger and Rowdy Gaines, 1984 triple Olympic gold medalist, TV swimming analyst and chief fund-raiser for USA Swimming.<\/p>\n
The two finalists, seen as having different strengths, were interviewed via a telephone conference call two weeks ago and a decision was promised for last Thursday, March 17.<\/p>\n
Twenty-one members of the ISHOF Board were eligible to vote for the new president, with ballots being sent both to Godfrey, reportedly a Neuburger supporter, and John Ebert, Chairman of the ISHOF Board and reportedly a Gaines supporter. The deadline for balloting was extended from last Thursday to last night at midnight.<\/p>\n
According to several reliable sources, the voting has been extremely close all along with two sources indicating a 9-9 tie with three undecided voters, and a third saying the vote was 10-9 in favor of Neuburger with two undecided.<\/p>\n
In any event, an announcement was due this morning, but as of noon, no announcement has been forthcoming.<\/p>\n
Both candidates have indicated that should the other man be selected, he will continue to give the new president and the Hall of Fame his full support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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