The public perception appeared to be that Lance was unable to compete in any other sports but "swimming" would take him and as a result, people were questioning whether it is a clean sport. The public don't see the distinction between swimming and masters swimming and drew conclusions like, "he'll be aiming for Rio".
I think this is partly because, unlike running/triathlon/cycling in the US, the sport of swimming divides age groupers/elites and masters into separately governed entities (USA and USMS). Also unlike the aforementioned sports, masters swimmers don't get any $$$ from setting WRs, winning events, etc. Doesn't the winning master at the Boston Marathon rake in $50,000?
USMS has had other swimmers competing that previously had been busted for drugs. Angel Martino and Vlad Pleshenko come to mind.
The public perception appeared to be that Lance was unable to compete in any other sports but "swimming" would take him and as a result, people were questioning whether it is a clean sport. The public don't see the distinction between swimming and masters swimming and drew conclusions like, "he'll be aiming for Rio".
I think this is partly because, unlike running/triathlon/cycling in the US, the sport of swimming divides age groupers/elites and masters into separately governed entities (USA and USMS). Also unlike the aforementioned sports, masters swimmers don't get any $$$ from setting WRs, winning events, etc. Doesn't the winning master at the Boston Marathon rake in $50,000?
USMS has had other swimmers competing that previously had been busted for drugs. Angel Martino and Vlad Pleshenko come to mind.
