Swimming Lord of the Rings Dale Neuburger — Key Figure in the Transcontinental Alex Pussieldi Cover-Up
December 12, 2024FULL SERIES SO FAR:
“Alex Pussieldi Update: Decade After Ouster in Florida, Peeping Tom and Multinational Trafficker Coach Remains a Powerful Figure in Brazilian Swimming,” October 27, https://concussioninc.net/?p=15882
“SwimSwam.com, Sport News Site, Adores ‘Journalist’ Alex Pussieldi — All-Time International Coaching Abuser, Now in His Third Act in Brazil,” October 29, https://concussioninc.net/?p=15895
“Alex Pussieldi — Swimming Coach Driven out of Florida after Allegations of Trafficking and Sexual Abuse — Announces a Tour of Clinics in Brazil, Sponsored by Speedo,” November 29, https://concussioninc.net/?p=15974
“Speedo Disavows Sponsorship of Alex Pussieldi’s Brazilian Swimming Clinics, Says Endorsement Made ‘Without Authorization’,” November 29, https://concussioninc.net/?p=15990
“The Questions USA Swimming Must Answer about Exiled Abuser Coach Alex Pussieldi — Now a Sport Powerbroker Back in Brazil,” November 30, https://concussioninc.net/?p=15994
“In the Matter of Alex Pussieldi’s Status in Brazil, There’s Precedent for Sanctioning a National Swimming Federation,” December 9, https://concussioninc.net/?p=16001
“Swimming Lord of the Rings Dale Neuburger — Key Figure in the Transcontinental Alex Pussieldi Cover-Up,” December 12, https://concussioninc.net/?p=16017
by Irvin Muchnick
As promised, we now make available the full transcript of Dale Neuburger’s 2011 testimony in the civil lawsuit by “Jane Doe” against USA Swimming over the organization’s exposure in the long trail of abuse of monster coach Andy King: http://muchnick.net/neuburgerdeposition.pdf.
The boss of USA Swimming from 1997 to his death in 2017, chief executive Chuck Wielgus, has a particular space in the hall of shame. But Wielgus’s lies and evasions in covering up a generation of coach sexual abuse also had a perverse quality, which he tried to turn into endearing, of inconsistency and incompetence. He often played a calculating befuddlement that at least pretended to be on the side of protecting youth athletes from this type of predation. And in cascading non-apology apologies over the last seven years of his life — beginning with his disastrous 2010 interview on ABC’s 20/20 and continuing through the walkback of his scheduled 2014 induction into the International Swimming Hall of Fame — Wielgus paid lip service to standing for a larger principle than feathering his own $1-million-plus-a-year nest.
No so with Neuburger. Under questioning in 2011, he claimed he didn’t know nuthin’ about nobody. As a quick-hit guide to just a few categories, I offer below some excerpts. You need to inhale the full transcript in order to appreciate other categories — including Neuburger’s conflicts of interest, in his service with the Indiana Sports Corporation and the FINA global swimming body, vis a vis his clients for TSE Consulting; the machinations of the United States Sports Insurance Company, USA Swimming’s subsidiary in Barbados; and his bobbing and weaving in response to questions about a secret “flagged” list and about the swimming figures Pat Hogan, Will Colebank, Rick Curl, and others.
The samplers:
Mitch Ivey (covered here in 2013 at https://concussioninc.net/?p=8367)
In 1993 the University of Florida jettisoned Ivey — a famous coach and a college contemporary of Neuburger’s — in the face of a report of his abuses by ESPN’s Outside the Lines..
Q. Do you know Mitch Ivey?
A. I don’t know him.
Q. Do you know who he is?
A. I know the name.
Q. Have you ever seen him on television?
A. No, not to my knowledge.
Q. Were you on the USA Swimming board of directors in 1993?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you recall any discussions about Mitch Ivey in 1993?
A. No.
Q. So is it your recollection that there were no discussions of Mitch Ivey after he was on ESPN Outside The Lines in 1993?
A. If Mr. Ivey was part of a television broadcast, I’m not aware of it.
Q. You’ve never seen it?
A. I’ve not seen the broadcast that you refer to.
Q. Do you know if he was the coach at the University of Florida?
A. I think that is correct. I can’t give his coaching affiliations, but I believe at one time he coached at the University of Florida.
Q. Do you know if he was fired from the University of Florida?
A. I do not.
Q. Do you know if he’s banned from coaching in USA Swimming?
A. I do not know.
Q. Do you know if he’s still coaching in USA Swimming?
A. I don’t know that.
Neuburger’s own son’s coach (covered here in 2013 at https://concussioninc.net/?p=7525)
Q. Did your son swim for Tony Young?
A. He did.
Q. Do you know of any complaints of sexual misconduct concerning Tony Young?
A. I don’t.
Q. Any incidences with a shampoo bottle?
A. I don’t know what you’re referring to.
Q. Do you know why Mr. Young was terminated from Carmel High School?
A. I don’t know the circumstances of his departure from Carmel High School.
Q. Did you read about it in the newspaper?
A. I — no, I don’t believe I read it about it in the newspaper. I’m familiar with the fact that he left
21 Carmel High School.
Q. Would it surprise you if I told you it was because he allegedly either participated in or did not stop a mentally retarded youth from being impaled by a shampoo bottle in the shower? Would that be news to you?
A. What you’ve indicated would be news to me, yes.
Q. Do you know if he was criminally charged in that matter?
A. I do not know.
Q. Do you know what he does now for a job?
A. I know he’s employed by Indiana Swimming. I’m not precisely sure of his job title.
George Gibney — the most notorious at-large sex criminal in sports history
Q. Do you know who Peter Banks is?
A. I do.
Q. How do you know Mr. Banks?
A. I know Mr. Banks through — because he coached a member of the US Olympic team and because he was frequently a coach at national championships of USA Swimming.
Q. So he was a prominent US swim coach?
A. He was a prominent swim coach, a prominent US swim coach, yes.
Q. Do you know if he worked for [American Swimming Coaches Association]?
A. I don’t know.
Q. Do you know who George Gibney is?
A. I do not.
Q. What’s Peter Banks’ nationality? What country is he a citizen of?
A. I believe he’s Irish, I know.
Q. Do you know what he does for a job now?
A. I know he’s coaching. I don’t know his position. I’ve seen him at swimming meets, but I’m not sure of his title or position.
Q. Were you at the world championships in Dubai?
A. I was.
Q. Do you know if Mr. Banks was there?
A. He may have been there, but I didn’t see him.
Q. Would you be surprised if he was the Irish national coach?
A. I would not be surprised if he were.
Q. Do you know Mr. Banks’ employment history before he came to the United States?
A. I do not.
…
Q. [Referring now to George Gibney, former boss of Peter Banks in Ireland]: [I]f there was a coach in USA Swimming who was arrested and charged with dozens of counts of sodomy and rape against 17 young boys and girls dating back in 1968, and he was in USA Swimming coaching, would knowledge of those arrests warrant an investigation of that coach?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you know who George Gibney is?
A. No, I indicated I don’t know George Gibney.
Q. The situation I just explained with a coach who had those charges against him, sodomy and rape and dozens of counts, would USA Swimming write a letter of support for his visa application to the United States?[…] A visa application for a foreign coach to enter the United States? […] If George Gibney was charged with the rape and sodomy situation I just explained to you, which he was in Ireland, why would USA Swimming write a letter in support of his visa application? […] Did USA Swimming write a letter in support of his visa application?
A. I don’t know.
Q. Do you know if ASCA wrote a letter in support of his visa application?
A. I do not know.
