The Week That Was: Nathan Adrian Reveals Cancer Diagnosis

Photo Courtesy: Taylor Brien

This week American sprint star Nathan Adrian revealed to the world that he is battling a cancer diagnosis while we learned more about yet another controversy surrounding Chinese freestyle star Sun Yang. Catch up on those stories and the other biggest news of the week below in the week that was!

The Week That Was #5 – CSCAA Honors Scholar All-America Teams

The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) has selected a record 713 teams from 460 institutions to the Scholar All-America Team for the Fall 2018 semester. The teams were selected by the CSCAA’s Scholar All-America committee on the basis of their Fall grade point averages and represent 16,502 student-athletes. Liberty (3.79), Biola (3.72), and St. Catherine’s (3.75) led the way for women’s programs in Division I, II, and III, while on the men’s side Grand Canyon (3.68), Bridgeport (3.72), and MIT (3.78) had the highest GPA’s in each division. To earn the honor, teams were required to post a GPA of 3.0 or higher for the Fall Semester and maintain a roster of 12 or more student-athletes. You can see the full list of honored teams from the CSCAA here.

The Week That Was #4 – Sarah Sjostrom Wins Fourth Consecutive Swedish Female Athlete of the Year Award

sarah-sjostrom-victory-arms-2017-world-champs

Photo Courtesy: SIPA USA

Swedish Olympian and world record holder Sarah Sjostrom was named Swedish Female Athlete of the Year for the fourth consecutive year at this week’s Swedish Sport Awards. The award was started back in 2000, and no athlete has won the event more than twice other than Sjostrom. The 2016 Olympic Champion currently holds four long course world records in the 50 and 100 free and 50 and 100 butterfly. The 25-year-old broke out onto the scene 10 years ago at the 2009 World Championships, when she broke the world record in the 100 fly. Most recently, Sjostrom captured four gold medals at this summer’s European Championships in the four events which she currently holds world records.

The Week That Was #3 – WSCA Opposes FINA Champions Swim Series

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

This week the World Swimming Coaches Association (WSCA) publicly opposed the Champions Swim Series that FINA proposed last week. The WSCA’s opposition to the meet series comes after the organization surveyed their board and membership 18 months ago. The results of that survey run counter to the planned timeline of the FINA series, which the WSCA says will result in an increased incentive for Performance Enhancing Drug (PED) use and will distract from higher level competitions that already take place around the series. The WSCA instead proposed more investment in the World Championships, including increased prize money and investment in placement bonuses.

The Week That Was #2 – Sun Yang Faces Lifetime Ban Over Incident With Anti-Doping Officials

Photo Courtesy: David E. Klutho-USA TODAY Sports

According to a report that appeared in The Sunday Times, Olympic Champion and world record holder Sun Yang may be facing a lifetime ban from competitive swimming after a run-in with anti-doping officials collecting samples. The Times reported that the incident involved Sun and his bodyguard smashing a sealed vial of the swimmer’s blood with a hammer, destroying the testing sample, during an out-of-competition test on September 4, 2018. The report alleges that Sun broke several testing protocols and questioned the credentials of the drug testers. While FINA cleared Sun of any wrongdoing at a hearing on January 3, WADA is allegedly ready to pursue an appeal with the Court for Arbitration for Sport. Sun himself has threatened legal action against the paper that initially reported the incident, claiming that officials had failed to produce proper documentation for the testing. His statement makes no mention of destroying the sample with a hammer as reporting in the Times article.

The Week That Was #1 – Nathan Adrian Diagnosed With Testicular Cancer

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Three-time Olympian and American sprint star Nathan Adrian revealed that he has been diagnosed with testicular cancer via his social media accounts this week. In that post he shared that he has already started treatment and is schedule for surgery next week. He stated he is hopeful he will be returning to the water in a few weeks, and also stated he hoped sharing his story would help end some of the existing stigma surrounding open conversations about men’s health. He also shared that he still has his sights set on a spot on the 2020 Olympic Team. Adrian, 30, is set to represent the United States at the 2019 Pan American Games in the 50 and 100 free in addition to a spot on the World Championships roster for the 400 free relay. Adrian did not indicate if he would be withdrawing from either meet.

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Bobbi Vasquez

5 years ago

We need everone to pray for him❤??????

Dale Fourzon

5 years ago

Reply to Bobbi Vasquez

Our prayers are with you and your Family!