Editorial: Thorpe’s Drug Comment Draws FINA’s Ire

By M. Duncan Scott

PHOENIX, Ariz., August 10. AUSTRALIAN star Ian Thorpe showed up just a few days ago on television for an interview in his swimming-savvy country, Fox Sports – Australia reported.

"For anyone to think that they're swimming at a clean Olympic Games, they'd be naive," Thorpe said on Channel 7 news. "Of course I've swum against athletes that have been on drugs," he said. He didn’t suggest any names, or even suggest nations that might be offenders.

I suspect he might have been able to skate by without too much backlash had he stopped there. After all, in a sport that has seen huge drug scandals in international competition, such comments are hardly even newsworthy except for the fact they were uttered by a rock-star type figure in Australian sport and global aquatics. They weren’t even significantly picked up in the U.S. press, even during this quadrennial blip when swimming receives increased coverage. It seems obvious that it was his next comment that got him in hot water.

He predicted it was "most likely" he would swim against drugged athletes again. "Having a kind of universal testing system that's consistent – we don't have that yet," Thorpe said.

The reaction to Thorpe’s comment was quick and caustic. “FINA strongly condemns such attitudes as it is not acceptable that all the swimmers, including Thorpe's teammates, participating at the Olympic Games are accused, without any sustainable evidence that they may 'have been on drugs'," the organization said. FINA also claimed it had been at the forefront of the fight against drugs in cooperation with the World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA), with significant results.” FINA said Thorpe’s comments were to be “regretted.”

Just when did Thorpe accuse all swimming Olympians of being doped? FINA’s over-reaction would logically have to mean Thorpe was accusing himself as well. Indeed, all that it would take for Thorpe’s statement to be correct would be for one swimmer to cheat, and he or she wouldn’t even necessarily have to be caught for the sense of Thorpe’s words to be true.

At about the same time as FINA was responding to Thorpe, Australia’s other male freestyle world record-holder, Grant Hackett, backed up Thorpe’s position in comments to the press as he left Australia to begin the trek to Athens.

He was actually much more specific in his commentary about the need for better testing protocols and more money to support them. He specifically agreed with Thorpe’s comments that they had competed against cheaters in previous meets, would likely do so again and that no Olympic Games have been “100 percent clean.” He even used the same term, “naïve,” in describing those who think otherwise.

"Swimming is noted for how clean and gentleman-like it is," Hackett said. "I'd like to continue that tradition, and I think the way to continue that is to advance drug testing, and to have governing bodies and governments put more money and more time into getting ahead of the drug cheats instead of the reverse, as the situation is right now."

Hackett didn’t get the same press release response from FINA that Thorpe did. Despite his skills and record, he’s not as big a name as Thorpe. He did, however, get the same greeting as Thorpe on arrival at their training camp in Germany. Thorpe and Hackett were among 12 members of Australia’s 43 member swim squad required to give urine samples before they could even unpack at their hotels.

The FINA release also quoted multiple Olympic gold medal winner Janet Evans taking issue with Thorpe in her capacity as president of FINA's athletes' commission. "I don't agree with his claim. FINA's anti-doping policy does as much as it can to ensure that swimmers will be clean at the Games," she argued. "I sincerely believe swimming is a clean sport." Her quotes were also cited by Foxsports

This writer takes issue with the final phase of the statement attributed to Janet Evans: “I sincerely believe swimming is a clean sport.”

Janet certainly earned her accolades, and the right to speak, as one of the greatest and most respected drug-free champions in the modern era of our sport. However, I find her statement to be wishful thinking. If she had said swimming is “relatively clean” or even “the cleanest of sports,” I would have had no problem with it. But to state – unambiguously – that swimming is “clean” is, as Thorpe said, "naive." Even if FINA’s efforts to catch cheats have advanced, there is nothing to suggest that those willing to cheat no longer exist.

FINA’s testing has improved, but it isn’t perfect. Even with continuing open and honest efforts to improve, it likely never will be perfect. And to some degree, even if you had the “universal testing program that’s consistent” of Thorpe’s dreams, it still wouldn’t invalidate the reasonableness of the remainder of the Thorpedo’s comment. If a “dirty” swimmer – it certainly can’t be said with a straight face that none exist – were to “cheat” too close to the Games and be caught by testing at the Games, the apprehension (test result) could easily come after the athlete had competed. And even though that athlete could be appropriately punished, Thorpe’s statement would be undeniably true: the Games would be tainted by drugs and the swimmers would not have competed in a clean Olympic Games.

Publisher’s Note: SwimInfo briefly published an earlier version of this story. We have revised the story to make it absolutely clear that no one has ever credibly accused Janet Evans of using performance enhancing drugs. Our apologies to Janet and our readers if any of them thought that the previous version implicated Janet in any way. Furthermore, it is a sad commentary on sports today, when clean, accomplished athletes, such as Janet, are forced to actively guard their reputation to avoid being pulled into the ugly reality of today’s drug suspicious society. We encourage and support those who take a stand against drugs in our sport. Further we hope that these individuals continue to display the courage to voice their opinions.

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