Coach Denis Cotterell Quits Chinese Swimming & Will Not Support Sun Yang’s Last Appeal Against Eight-Year Ban

Denis Cotterell with Chinese charge Sun Yang - Photo Courtesy: USA Today Sports

Denis Cotterell, Sun Yang’s Australian coach, has quit Chinese swimming and will not support the swimmer’s further appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal against the eight-year ban imposed on him by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) after a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing.

Sun’s swimming career came to a thudding halt on Friday February 28 when the CAS declared in favour of WADA against Sun and his backers at FINA, the international swimming federation whose Doping Panel outlined the excoriating details of an acrimonious anti-doping mission to the swimmer’s home in September 2018 but concluded that a caution was enough. WADA begged to differ, pressed for a charge of tampering and won the argument, the full report of which was released last Wednesday.

Since then, Chinese fans have started to turn on Sun. Now Cotterell has severed ties and says he will not support Sun’s last appeal.

Asked if he supported Yang’s appeal, Cotterell said: “No.”

Sun Yang and Dennis Cotterell prepare to enter the CAS hearing in Montreux, November, 2019 – Photo Courtesy: Craig Lord

Cotterell, who supported Sun throughout his CAS hearing, has previously insisted that Sun was a clean swimmer, even saying that he was just as clean as his most famous Australian swimmer, Grant Hackett.

He also defended Sun during last year’s FINA world championships, where the Chinese swimmer faced a podium protest after the 400m freestyle final by Australian 2016 Olympic champion Mack Horton, who refused to pose for photographs with Sun to reinforce his message that he did not feel a swimmer towing a doping record and in the midst of a second anti-doping adjudication process should have been allowed to race at the global showcase.

At the time, Cotterell said of the 11-times World champion who at London 2012 became the first Chinese man ever to claim Olympic gold in the pool when he won the 400m:

“I love working with an athlete who has paid their dues, has longevity and is still achieving. If you think for a second I would be doing that with someone that is a cheat then people don’t know me. That is an insult.”

Sun’s career is beyond repair, regardless of the outcome of his appeal, a part of which is aimed at returning him to the sport in time for the defence of the Olympic 200m freestyle at Tokyo 2020. That outcome is widely believed to be highly unlikely but should Sun return from the anti-doping grave his presence in the pool would almost certainly be haunted by the booing and jeering and the podium protests witnessed against him at Rio 2016 and Gwangju 2019 World Championships.

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Darren Bodey

4 years ago

Run back to Australia Denis. We’ve got the best now though!

Sharon Brian

4 years ago

Fantastic news

Woosuk Choi

4 years ago

Sharon Moran

4 years ago

Jennifer- defected and now returns. Hope Swimming Australia denies him any appointment in the National squad.

Kel Senior

4 years ago

WOW! Well written Intro ?? Basically the same sentence 3 Xs over! ??

Colleen Tessler

4 years ago

Reply to Kel Senior

I thought i couldnt read but yea ur right haha

Raj Verma

4 years ago

Reply to Kel Senior

Kel Senior they seem to do this a lot. It seems they repeat this often. I think if they do it 3 times they think it will stick?

Author

Craig Lord

4 years ago

Reply to Raj Verma

Raj… ‘they’ is a robot… the articles do not have repeated intros… its an automatic setting in the facebook push that doesn’t do what it says on the can, by the looks of it.

Author

Craig Lord

4 years ago

Reply to Kel Senior

Kel, not sure if you had a good night out ? but the intro is there just once in the article (?) … perhaps you were referring to the facebook post (the automatic push sometimes shows head, standfirst and intro…?)

Peter Leek

4 years ago

Reply to Kel Senior

I don’t get it…nothing seems to repeat?

Troyy

4 years ago

Long overdue and hopefully he just retires now.

Lou Gooden

4 years ago

Karma is a wonderful thing ….. ☺️

Masayo Sodeyama

4 years ago

Finally!

Andrei Vorontsov

4 years ago

PECUNIA NON OLET – MONEY DOES NOT STINK!
It is exactly, better late (almost all money taken from the tilt).
“Was blind (for many-many years!), but now can see!” – Amazing Grace!

Author

Craig Lord

4 years ago

Reply to Andrei Vorontsov

Indeed, Andrei

Timoteo Soriano

4 years ago

Not surprising as he is an Australian, I think he is being pressured by his peers at home

Sean McCully

4 years ago

Why now?

Katja Dorothea Martini

4 years ago

Get rid of Sun Yang , fast.

Louise Holden

4 years ago

Good!

Lola Woodward

4 years ago

He took the word of Sun Yang and the Chinese Swimming Association against the word of a fellow Australian?? You would think if anyone was to know if an elite athlete was cheating, his coach would be in on it. Sorry Denis, I hope you find it difficult to find another coaching position

Jose Vassallo

4 years ago

Reply to Lola Woodward

Lola Woodward amen, on point.

Helen Seal

4 years ago

Carrie Power

4 years ago

Reply to Helen Seal

Helen Seal I wonder what changed his coaches opinion seeing as he’s been defending him until now ?

Dick Beaver

4 years ago

Shelley Beaver.

Bianca Bernardo

4 years ago

And we are suppose to believe that he didn’t know that sun was a cheat. Riiight

Desmond Lam

4 years ago

Reply to Bianca Bernardo

Bianca Bernardo probably the mastermind behind it

Francisca Alencar

4 years ago

I hope he will never swim again!

Peter Leek

4 years ago

Took them long enough…he’s declined a lot since he trained Grant Hackett

Roland Zhang

4 years ago

https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-08/sun-yang-has-been-painted-as-a-drug-cheat-look-at-it-in-context/12027892?pfmredir=sm&section=sport

James Jewitt

4 years ago

Reply to Roland Zhang

Roland Zhang interesting read

Steve Keys

4 years ago

Reply to Roland Zhang

Roland Zhang essentially this is a proxy for war, much like the Olympics during the cold war, where both the US & Russia used state-sanctioned doping programs in the pursuit of athletic supremacy. Perception of superiority is everything.

Gwenda Welsh

4 years ago

Good move Denis!

Bruce Hamnett

4 years ago

No job back in Oz for him I would hope

Paul

4 years ago

Dennis has been an outstanding Australian coach over the years. No doubt his work with the Chinese has given him a great bank balance to retire with. Without that work retirement could be a struggle. Aussie coaches are hardly the best paid in the world.
He has been the best distance coach we have ever had, don’t waste him, use him as a mentor coach, if he wants to still work. Doping is seldom the domain of the coach

Rodney Marks

4 years ago

And of course he knew nothing about his athlete cheating!

Paul

4 years ago

Reply to Rodney Marks

As a coach and I was one for
60 years I have never had an idea that any of my international swimmers were taking drugs to enhance performance. I had two that were on cannabis and magic mushrooms, that was very noticeable as their brains were not in gear. I have been suspicious of some female swimmers ( that were not mine), that displayed some male characteristics.
Sun is different, although he swam with Dennis for many years, he was also very much a major player in the national system. China has not got a great reputation in that area. I am sure Dennis suspected, did he know? We will probably never know