The Week That Was: Coaching Changes, Doping Violations, And More Zika Fears

Photo Courtesy: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

This week featured a number of stories with significant impacts to the worldwide swimming community, including new developments related to doping violations from past Olympics and more calls from the scientific community to rethink the global health impact of the Rio Olympics. Read about these stories and more below to learn about the biggest stories from the week that was!

The Week That Was #5 – Trio Of Veterans Make Olympic Trials Cuts

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

While U.S. Trials start in less than a month, swimmers across the country are scrambling to get their OT cuts. Notable this week were three veterans to the U.S. National scene getting their Trial cuts just in the nick of time. Erika Erndl of T2 Aquatics qualified for her fifth Olympic Trials, posting a 1:00.94 in the 100 meter butterfly at a meet in Naples this week. That cleared the cut of 1:01.19, and came a day before Erndl’s 38th birthday. Her son, born in 2014, was in attendance at the meet. Erndl has competed in the 1996, 2000, 2008, and 2012 Olympic Trials.

Also qualifying for the meet were 32-year old South Carolina assistant coach Kevin Swander and 35-year old Ed Moses, both in the 100 meter breaststroke. Moses, who owns an Olympic Gold medal from the 2000 Olympics, posted a 1:03.35 at a meet in Irvine, after reportedly only completing two swim practices in the last 4 years. Inspired by Moses’ performance, Swander put up a 1:02.18 in the event the next day at the Carolina Aquatics Breakout May Meet. U.S. Olympic Trials will begin on June 26th in Omaha, Nebraska.

The Week That Was #4 – USADA CEO Calls Out Russia

Photo Courtesy: YouTube

Writing an op-ed in the New York Times published earlier this week, Travis Tygart, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO, challenged Russian sports to share their doping-related with the public. If not, he argued, the Russian contingent should be banned from competing in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Tygart does not mince words, stating that what Russia has done is “an assault on the fundamental values of the Olympic movement.” He then goes on to provide evidence, citing a German expose claiming Russian athletes were part of a widespread doping scheme and details an alleged urine swapping scheme that occurred at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. He also brings in former Russian anti doping official Vitaly Stepanov, who apparently has been voicing concerns to WADA regarding Russian doping since 2010. Reports on Russian doping have been ramping up during the leadup to the 2016 Olympic Games, including the current controversy surrounding a positive test from Russian breastroker Yuliya Efimova.

The full New York Times article can be found here.

The Week That Was #3 – Big Coaching Changes Happening This Spring

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Photo Courtesy: Taylor Brien

This week was marked by several big coaching changes this spring. First, Hollie Bonewit-Cron was named the Head Coach of Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving at Miami University. Bonewit-Cron comes to Miami after a successfully building the program from the ground up, amassing an impressive resume during her time with two Sunshine State Conference Coach of the Year honors, four SSC Championship wins, and 12 NCAA Titles from six individual NCAA Champions. On the other side of the pool, two-time NCAA Champion and 2012 NCAA Diver of the Year Drew Livingston was named the Head Diving Coach at Princeton University. Coming from a two year stint at LSU, Livingston will have big shoes to fill. He is replacing Greg Gunn, who has coached 30 individual Ivy League champions, 9 All-America honorees, and contributed to 36 Ivy League Swimming & Diving Championships during his 30 years at Princeton.

And, in one of the most anticipated coaching announcements this season, former Stanford men’s Assistant Scott Armstrong was announced as the future head coach of the John Hopkins, taking over for the legendary George Kennedy who announced his retirement earlier this year. Armstrong is a 2003 Hopkins graduate, and was just recently inducted into the Hopkins Athletics Hall of Fame. With most coaching changes happening in the spring and summer, keep your eyes peeled for more news as jobs continue to open up.

The Week That Was #2 – 23 More Positive Doping Tests From 2012 Retests

Photo Courtesy: LEN

This week the IOC announced that 23 athletes from 5 different sports tested positive for banned substances during retests from samples collected during the 2012 London Olympics. This comes just a week after the IOC found 31 positive tests from retests of samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Similar to the Beijing retests, the London retests focused on those athletes potentially competing in Rio. Over 265 samples were retested from London. Accompanying the release from the IOC, President Thomas Bach stated “We want to keep the dopers away from the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. This is why we are acting swiftly now. I have already appointed a disciplinary commission, which has the full power to make all the decisions on behalf of the IOC.” Any athletes who test positive will be barred from the 2016 Rio Olympics. The IOC has not announced the names of the new positives, as they will give each athlete a chance to appeal.

The Week That Was #1 – More Calls For Rio To Be Postponed

Photo Courtesy: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Following last week’s call from the Harvard Public Health Review that the 2016 Rio Olympics should be cancelled or re-scheduled due to the Zika virus, this week ABC News reported that 125 other scientists and health experts have spoken out against the Games. In a letter reportedly written to World Health Organization Director Dr. Margaret Chan, the groups called for the Olympic Games to be cancelled or postponed, much like Amir Attaran’s call in the Harvard Public Health Review.

With the Rio Olympics starting in roughly two months, this is another serious call from the science community claiming the Rio Games poses a major threat to global health given the state of the Zika Virus. Not all in the scientific community are in favor of moving the Games. This public opposition from scientists came just as the director of the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Tom Frieden, said there was no reason to cancel the Games. While he said there is always inherent risk with travel, when it comes to Rio “the risk is not particularly high other than for pregnant women,” Frieden said. Following the publication of the open letter, the World Health Organization (WHO) has rejected the call to move the Games, stating there is “no public health justification” to move the Rio Olympics.

You can read the original ABC News article here.

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