Drug Testing in Masters Swimming

I've got a spare vat of tar in my garage....does anyone own a poultry farm? If they started testing I'd just not bother competing. If you want to cheat yourself go right ahead. As long as I'm not losing money on the deal knock yourself out.

So much for better living through chemistry.

I think testing at the masters level may be overkill. As others have mentioned, there are just too many things we do that could effect a test. Like my asthma inhaler. If I take a hit off the albuterol before the race, or right after to get my lungs back, will that skew a result? Too much to acccount for with masters. Would we have to develop a scaled dosage chart for each age-group so as we age up our prescribed meds are properly accounted for? On the flip side, if testing were to come to be, perhaps the way to go is to test World/ National record breaking swims. That would reduce the cost of the program, since there would be less of these in any given meet than there would be "winners".

:dedhorse:

Testing only World record or US record swims........... Certainly would be more cost effective than testing every winner in every age group. What about this ...... Have all drugs legal in masters swimming, but require complete disclosure prior to major competition. Then if you get tested and there's a drug not on your disclosed list....... you get to have your photo on the front of SWIM magazine........ :-) It's just masters swimming..... :-) John Smith

:shakeshead: :rolleyes:

Are you sure you want to ask that Mr.:coffee: :coffee:Red Bull :coffee: :coffee:Red Bull :coffee: :coffee: Tums! Now that's MY kind of substance abuse! Why do people keep saying it ONLY masters swimming? I realize that I'll never be a world contender, but why does that mean I/we should not take the sport seriously? If we were talking about the irradication of a species and someone said, "they're ONLY cockroaches", well, ok--BUT I'm not a cockroach! Hearing masters swimmers say it's only masters swimming is like...well, cannibalism.

I don't think I would be surprised to find some Masters "cheating". And it may very well be the ones profiting from their swimming success... However, I know that most of the people ranking Top 10 World Times, World Records, etc. have an impressive swimming history. Many swam in USS Nationals as kids, made their Olympic Trials cuts, were American Record holders, won NCAA's, etc. I think many of these people would voluntarily test if they were asked, as long as they didn't have to pay for it! An amazing example of speed that I can think of is Clay Britt. There are many expletives I can think of to describe his swimming! Many Masters may not know he won 3 NCAA's in a row, until his senior year, when some upstart named Rick Carey came along! Clay is just a powerful, strong sprinter. He has immense talent. I believe he had at least one American Record- I'll check with my hubby on that one. For someone to imply that someone like Clay was cheating, would show their lack of knowledge of history. How many other Master's swimmers do you know with similar backgrounds to Clay's? Probably more than you think. I can think of at least 10 off the top of my head. Let's not confuse cheating with talent and hard work.

Karen.....its bad enough we have to deal with 2 Longhorn alums (at least) on this forum (Evil & Commings)....PLEASE lets not bring another into the discussion here (even though we all like Clay the best)! PS: Tell your husband if he's swimming that fast he's not spending enough time training for Rainier!

Personally, I think the Smiths should be the first to belly up to the urinal to set the example for all of us. I've heard catheterization is the only way to get a truly accurate test. Therefore, let that be the mode the Smiths employ on the first ever USMS Drug Testing Protocol. We shall make it a 2/3 testing routine also. Based on their experiences, we shall decide the best course for the rest of us. Absolutely. Foley's for all Top 10 swimmers.