I seem to remeber a female swimmer appearing on tv with a Balco hat on. If I remember correctly, she was talking about how she began training for the 200 Olmypics and was using products from this company. She was helping them develop products for swimmers. I'm not real sure but I was really surprised at the time becasue I had heard about Balco from a friend who lives in San Fransisco and is a body builder. I, at the time, was still recovering from lots of surgeries and he told me about all of their "wonderful" products.
Parents
Former Member
True story:
When I started swimming "hard core" for high school, my freshman year, it was discovered that I have exercise-induced asthma aggravated by high chlorine levels (there are some interesting studies on this topic, PM me if you want the specifics). After I stopped being able to finish workouts without having an attack and having to use my rescue inhaler, my doctor suggested I try using it BEFORE my workouts, to prevent symptoms from happening, and then if they still occured, I could always use it again. It actually helped me alot. If my symptoms appeared, they were usually less severe, and I was able to continue my workout with little problem.
That story leads to this story: At a regional high school meet my sophomore year, an official saw me take my inhaler prior to a race and informed my coach I was disqualified, and an investigation would take place as to my use of Albuterol, because it could technically be considered a performance enhancer. (This official was looney.)
The basis was, Albuterol forces the bronchials to relax, allowing for the induction of greater quantities of oxygen, and it speeds up the heart, increasing blood flow and adrenaline production. It could somehow give me an advantage to use it before a race, so I was more "amped" up at the beginning of the race and thus had more energy to use throughout the race.
The outcome was pretty simple: I had to provide documentation of my EIB treatments, and my doctor had to submit a written statement saying pre-race albuterol was part of my medication practice.
I have since had no problems using my inhaler during meets, but that incident has made me very aware of the things I use, medication-wise, and of the things officials consider performance enhancers.
True story:
When I started swimming "hard core" for high school, my freshman year, it was discovered that I have exercise-induced asthma aggravated by high chlorine levels (there are some interesting studies on this topic, PM me if you want the specifics). After I stopped being able to finish workouts without having an attack and having to use my rescue inhaler, my doctor suggested I try using it BEFORE my workouts, to prevent symptoms from happening, and then if they still occured, I could always use it again. It actually helped me alot. If my symptoms appeared, they were usually less severe, and I was able to continue my workout with little problem.
That story leads to this story: At a regional high school meet my sophomore year, an official saw me take my inhaler prior to a race and informed my coach I was disqualified, and an investigation would take place as to my use of Albuterol, because it could technically be considered a performance enhancer. (This official was looney.)
The basis was, Albuterol forces the bronchials to relax, allowing for the induction of greater quantities of oxygen, and it speeds up the heart, increasing blood flow and adrenaline production. It could somehow give me an advantage to use it before a race, so I was more "amped" up at the beginning of the race and thus had more energy to use throughout the race.
The outcome was pretty simple: I had to provide documentation of my EIB treatments, and my doctor had to submit a written statement saying pre-race albuterol was part of my medication practice.
I have since had no problems using my inhaler during meets, but that incident has made me very aware of the things I use, medication-wise, and of the things officials consider performance enhancers.
