From what i have heard, from several credible sources, someone on the us women's team tested positive. As of now only the persons family, roommate, and usa swimming know, but im sure it will begin to leak out. Nothing matters though until we get results of the B test.. which could be a few days or even weeks. Not sure when the test was taken, but probably trials. I will try to post more information when I get it, but if anyone could confirm or post what they know, im sure it would be appreciated
Former Member
Jayhawk, so who in their right mind woud opt to take this crap?..that's the part that still baffles me.
"Here's your medal, your liver is deissicated and waiting for you in the bathroom where you dropped it...."
I think one of the most interesting aspects is that she tested positive on the 4th and negative on the 6th. That implies that it is very possible to use these types of drugs without having any positive test results, random out of competition testing being the only obstacle.
Remember...Marion never tested positive. Out of competition testing only works when you know what your testing for and the athlete is not using any masking agents.
So with China now having a new gene doping/stem cell regime & WADA saying its their worst fears come true...is it time to check into past travel schedules of athletes....and is there any possiblity of ever detecting cheating at this level?
About her future? If the final conclusion is that she did in fact cheat, then she will be an example to swimmers of what not to do. If her getting caught makes a few swimmers think twice then this will be a good thing. It would be great if she eventually becomes a spokesperson for anti-doping because she will have a pretty convincing story as to why it is not worth it to take PEDs.
TBH I really am not going to lose any sleep over this matter either way. It has no impact on my life so I don't ultimately care.
It does on mine. Jessica was my kid's hero. She was under the impression that Jessica had swum well this year because of hard work and proper sprint training.
Besides, positive tests give swimming a bad name. That won't give me insomnia, but, as swimming is a major part of my family's life, I don't like it one bit.
I have to side with Fort on this one. Swimming sort of dictates the pace of life in our family (except for August!!!). Hard to explain this one to your kid other than "she needs a whoopin."
You know what's really sad- I read something someone on a cycling forum wrote after Floyd's test from the TdF came back positive, and I thought "whatever this guy's a whack-job". But now I can see where he was coming from. He wrote "They're all cheaters folks. Just some of them don't get caught."
Now of course he may have been talking strictly cycling, but you seriously have to wonder. Even if it was unintentional, all of these athletes take all kinds of supplements and dietary aids to assist their training. They are already ingesting various chemical compounds to enhance their performance, true? Whether or not the substance shows up on the "banned" list, are they not "performance-enhancing drugs"?
Rain man is spot on with his assessment of the situation. Most top level athletes are "cheating". So called smart athletes have realized they can take "natural" products or stuff that is naturally found in the body. It is difficult to test for substances that are already in the human body.
Those doing drug tests don’t have a whole lot of options. For the most part, testers have threshold levels of specific “drugs” they look for. These threshold levels are actually higher than any drug free athletes would have in their blood stream, but they give a cushion so that no innocent athletes are found guilty. This is valued over some innocent athletes being wrongly blamed while catching almost all so called cheaters.
And has anyone heard about Dara Torres and her drug testing schedule. She does voluntary drug tests. Heck, I would too if I was taking drugs to cheat. The key to successful cheating is to take just enough drug to stay under the threshold set for a positive test. In order to do that, you have to be testing yourself frequently. Why not take a public test right after your "secret" test. It is a hell of a lot better than being randomly tested.
Has anyone here on this message board who does not take performance enhancing drugs ever though of being drug tested?
As for the issue on supplements, it has been shown that many of them have illegal substances in them. That is why bodybuilders take them!!! Protein shakes just aren't going to do it.
I was recently at a strength and conditioning symposium where a gentleman from England was presenting results from his testing of commercial supplements. He owned a company that tested supplements for the manufactures to make sure there were not illegal substances in them. Many manufacturers want to be able to assure the athletes taking them that they will not have positive test results when being drug tested.
Not surprisingly well over 3/4th of the supplements he tested had illegal substances in them.
His claim was that manufacturing takes place in factories that deal with a number of pharmaceuticals, which tend to get mixed in together. So, it is a very real possibility that if an athlete only tests positive once in their whole life, it may be due to taking a tainted batch of creatine or protein powder. It is also very likely they just did not monitor their blood levels closely enough while trying to cheat. Kidney function changes, liver function changes. Hydration levels change. Constant testing must be done if an athlete wants to cheat successfully. Or, do what Barry Bonds and many others have done.
Growth hormone is naturally found in the body, and it has a very short half life. He never tested positive for it because it just gets out of the system too fast.
Paul you are mistaken. Marion did fail a test for EPO in 2006. See link below:
sports.espn.go.com/.../story
She did not fail a test for "the cream" ala Balco.
Out of competition testing can work - and I don't understand what you meant about not knowing what to test for. The drug testers of course should know what to test for - EVERYTHING.
Out of competition testing should be unannounced and athletes should be required to comply at all times.
None of us knows how prevalent PEDs are. I believe it is very common in certain sports (like cycling) with a long history of expert practitioners. They have been doing it for years and they have doctors (?) who work very hard to develop cheating aids. Track may be similar. We know many of the field athletes (shot put, etc.) have abused steroids. I just haven't seen evidence that PEDs in swimming are as common. I just don't think swimmers are as good at it as cyclists. I don't think the underground exists like it does for other sports.
But who knows.....I certainly have just an opinion and no first hand knowledge.
She was cleared, I made the same mistake however in talking about Bernad Lagat failing the initial test but the "B" sample coming back clean:
www.npr.org/.../story.php
As for testing for EVERYTHING...you missed the point entirely...there was not a test for the clear and the cream because it was "created" and the only reason they found it was an at the time anonymous person sent a syringe with a sample of it. I 100% guarantee that there are drugs being used out there right now that no test can detect...that is why baseline testing year around ala the Garmin-Chiplote team is using is the only answer at the moment.
Lindsay...go back in the thread and click on the link about the recent under cover investigation by a German reporter posing as an American swim coach in China getting offered these treatments for $24k.
