One of the young stars of the FINA Family, Bureau member Paulo Frischknecht, a former Olympic swimmer, faces a new race: a vote-off for the presidency of the Portuguese swim federation (FPN) on Saturday after December  elections produced a tie in the leadership contest.

Frischknecht's rival is José António Silva, whose 19 votes matched the incumbents at the December 22 meeting, when all others posts were settled, including that of leader of the General Assembly of the federation, Vicente Moura, who is also president of his country's Olympic Committee.

Appealing for support in the eve of the new vote, Frischknecht, the Bureau liaison for the Coaches Commission of FINA, told the Lusa agency: "The central issue is that the sport has shown of great vitality. Our route, history, or the elements that constitute the  direction we had planned to move in, including the stability, security and confidence that the president's office should ensure in a climate of austerity, need to be taken into account."

That may not convince any of the 19 who voted against him, he said, but he hoped it would at least persuade the 19 who did place a tick next to his name to do so again.  The vote takes place at a meeting to be held on Saturday evening at the Jamor swim complex in Oeiras along the coast from Lisbon.