Amy Van Dyken

Only if you are in archery or marksmanship is *pot* a performance enhancing substance. Lumping it with steroids is disengenuous, and all of you that use the term 'banned substance' without explanation should be ashamed. One is cheating, the other is foolish. Hall should not expect anything from Van Dyken, and neither should we - there is no indication that she is guilty of *anything.* She has every right to be quiet, and I would not expect her to divulge grand jury evidence. Mr. Van Dyken should also be ashamed about trying to muzzle the free press (if true). The information on Swiminfo was all over the country and published many places, and his daughter is a public figure who has made several strong and public statements about doping. I am disappointed that Swiminfo responded to threats in the way it apparently did. Mr. Van Dyken should also be ashamed about raising a daughter that spits in her opponent's lane.

The point isn't over whether pot is a performance enhancing substance, the point is that it was banned and he knew it was banned. He was caught and got away with a warning due to a technicality and then got caught again and suspended.

Beware of hypocracy. For the same reasons that Gary can say what he wants and you can say what you want, I can do the same. My opinion is that in such a sensitive situation where NONE OF US knows the truth or circumstances, Hall has NO standing to ask/demand that Van Dyken come out and defend herself. Why does he think she needs to? What does he know? By tearing down a former Olympian, without any facts regarding her status in this case, how is he promoting our sport for the "larger mass of Americans"? He is helping to fuel the recent frenzy about steriod abuse that is tearing apart (rightfully, both cases) the USATF and soon MLB. He simply isn't helping.

I'm not going to bring in direct quotes from Bert, but the statement :"By tearing down a former Olympian" seems a tad hypocritical. I think he has MANY quotes on many threads where he himself has torn down said former olympian we are referring to. If you have a problem with a former olympian fine, state it. But don't come on here and complain of someone else doing it as if it is not right when you are doing it throughout many threads here.

This is from gary hall jr.'s website www.garyhalljr.com (I find this to be immature and out of line): Gary writes: Hundreds of news organizations throughout the world including CNN, ESPN, and Knight Ridder Publications report that BALCO laboratory president Victor Conte and his company stand accused of producing the designer steroid tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG, a charge Conte has denied. An investigation is currently underway that already has one Olympic gold medal swimmer involved. Amy Van Dyken was called to testify before the U.S. federal grand jury alongside athletes that have tested positive for the previously undetectable designer steroid THG. THG is a synthetic form of testosterone and has reportedly been detected in the urine samples of a number of track and field athletes and members of the Oakland Raiders football team. Swiminfo.com posted the announcement that van Dyken was called to testify and then removed the article one day later. Sources tell me that Amy's father called the publication threatening to sue the news source for inaccurately reporting the same information that has been plastered across news publications around the world. It may be premature to say, "Amy van Dyken! She's a cheater!" but her being called to testify does raise suspicion. These athletes being called in to testify, if they are clean, owe us an explanation as to why they are part of this investigation. Published articles state that that "Van Dyken, who reportedly was also a client of Conte's, is a close friend of Bill Romanowski, one of the Oakland Raiders who reportedly tested positive for THG." Amy declines comment on her relationship with Conte and her father threatens to sue Swiminfo for reporting world wide news? Further suspicion. To be fair, I will hold judgment until the investigation is complete. I simply want to know what her involvement is. Declining comment only makes things look worse. I would think that taking her position into consideration she would want to offer some explanation as to why she is involved in these federal grand jury hearings regarding illegal performance enhancing drugs. Women's Sports Foundation's "Sportwoman of the Year", shouldn't she be sportsmanlike and come clean to her fellow swimmers with information on her involvement? If she is innnocent, she needs to tell her story if for nothing else than to salvage her reputation and defend herself from these stories that make her look guilty as hell. If she is guilty, then she needs to start by offering an apology to the swimming community and rest of the world that she has lied to. The investigation is not over and it will reveal it's findings soon enough. I invite Amy to tell her side of the story here on my web site.

Yeah, my voice is heard by the millions of people tuning in to the riveting USMS Discussion Forums every day. I am a mover and a shaker. I am not a Race Club fan (as mentioned in ONE other thread) and Gary Hall is not my favorite, though I applaud his efforts with the diabetes cause. He IS heard however, and should stay out of this. Just an OPINION.

This is to Mr. Perry: I have been one of the biggest supporters of Gary Hall(s) on this website. I think that swimming needs more of him. But this was a mistake on his part. However, Gary's comments are NOT hypocritical. When he was suspended, he was open and honest about it, and he did not choose to be silent. Again, that does not make his current comments about Ms. Van Dyken acceptable, but it certainly was not hypocritical.

Maybe she doesn't give a rats ass what any of us think and therefore could care less what we say, think or do. She doesn't owe anybody anything.