Who would be opposed to drug testing in Masters Swimming? What would be the cost to implement such a program to test winners at US Masters Nationals? and finally, What drugs do you think would potentially be found?..... HGH?.... Testosterone?..... THG?....... IGF-1?..... designer steroids?
Wow, John, quite a proposition there.
Honestly, I think most of USMS's swimmers are upstanding. That being said, I don't doubt for a second that there is cheater out there. But here's some thoughts, both for and against:
Assuming a 1st place winner, both genders in every single event in every single age group from 18-99, thats a max of 576 drug tests. Obviously there will be repeats. I have no idea how much a drug test costs, but lets say its $75 x 350 swimmers - thats $30k.
Testing winners - I have a problem with just testing the winners. How biased! What about the rest of the field? This year, you still have a ~1100 non-winners and potential cheaters.
Professionals, Olympians, NCAA athletes - they all have somebody (or manybodies) watching over their diets, meds, supplements, etc., as these babysitters all know what is and isn't legal/performance enhancing. How many times do we hear of athletes testing positive for something that was in an allergy/cold med? There would have to be a massive education campaign, and I am sure that would be a HUGE cost.
To what standard of testing would USMS adhere to? Olympics? FINA, NCAA? NFL/MLB/NHL... There are plenty of standards out there.
Finally, I think the most common infraction would be a diet-related banned substance. I think we've all seen some pretty questionable quick weight-drops in our time...
:2cents:
Wow, John, quite a proposition there.
Honestly, I think most of USMS's swimmers are upstanding. That being said, I don't doubt for a second that there is cheater out there. But here's some thoughts, both for and against:
Assuming a 1st place winner, both genders in every single event in every single age group from 18-99, thats a max of 576 drug tests. Obviously there will be repeats. I have no idea how much a drug test costs, but lets say its $75 x 350 swimmers - thats $30k.
Testing winners - I have a problem with just testing the winners. How biased! What about the rest of the field? This year, you still have a ~1100 non-winners and potential cheaters.
Professionals, Olympians, NCAA athletes - they all have somebody (or manybodies) watching over their diets, meds, supplements, etc., as these babysitters all know what is and isn't legal/performance enhancing. How many times do we hear of athletes testing positive for something that was in an allergy/cold med? There would have to be a massive education campaign, and I am sure that would be a HUGE cost.
To what standard of testing would USMS adhere to? Olympics? FINA, NCAA? NFL/MLB/NHL... There are plenty of standards out there.
Finally, I think the most common infraction would be a diet-related banned substance. I think we've all seen some pretty questionable quick weight-drops in our time...
:2cents:
