Streamlined News, July 5, 2011

PHOENIX, Arizona, July 5. ON Friday, the news from Brazil broke that four swimmers, including reigning world champion Cesar Cielo as well as Henrique Barbosa, Nicholas Santos and Vinicius Waked, received warnings after they had tested positive for a diuretic called furosemide at the Maria Lenk Trophy meet in June. The Brazilian swimming federation had deemed that only a warning was necessary because neither athlete intended to take the drug to enhance performance, and it was a first-time offense for three of the four. Waked had received a two-month suspension in 2009 for testing positive for a banned stimulant.

On his blog Friday, Cielo said he was always vigilant about the drugs he takes and was certain the intake of furosemide was the result of cross contamination at the pharmacy where he normally gets his supplements.

Due to the positive drug test, the results of all four swimmers were stricken from the Maria Lenk Trophy meet. That means Barbosa and Santos will not be able to swim at the world championships on the 400 free relay, since they qualified for worlds at the Maria Lenk meet. Waked did not qualify for worlds at the meet, so he's only faced with nullified results. As for Cielo, he had already qualified for worlds before the Maria Lenk meet, so as of now, his place on the world team is secure. However, FINA is calling an emergency meeting with the Court of Arbitration for Sport to look further into the ruling and whether or not the warning was a justified punishment. There is no word on what punishment FINA and the Court could dole out, if they rule that a more severe one is necessary. Stay with swimmingworld.com for the latest updates on this developing story.

Michael Phelps made a final statement last weekend at the Canada Cup in Montreal, reclaiming the top spot in the world in the 100 butterfly with a 51.32, a new season best by five tenths of a second. Phelps will be looking to make it three straight world championship titles in the 100 fly and four overall in a few weeks in Shanghai. Phelps also won the 200 free in 1:47.46, which is almost a second slower than his best time of the year.

The United States enjoyed a holiday weekend, but several countries had national championships around the world over the weekend. You can read all about them on our world channel at swimmingworld.com.

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