The Week That Was: Russia Officials Admit To Doping

Photo Courtesy: Wanwa

Welcome to the first edition of the The Week That Was in 2017! While athletes and coaches were busy enjoying the holiday and getting in some serious training, there were still some major stories from the last couple weeks of 2016. Read below to catch up on what happened in the swimming world to close the year.

The Week That Was #5 – Washington Post Honors U.S. Olympic Swimmers

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

The Washington Post honored the United States Olympic Swim Team by naming them the overall Sport Figures of the Year for 2016. The piece focuses on the team’s incredible success in Rio de Janeiro with a special focus on Olympians Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky, who themselves were responsible for bringing home nine gold medals (five individual, four relay). Phelps, as we all know, continued to cement his legacy as the Greatest Olympian of All-Time with his performances in Rio, while Ledecky continued to push the boundaries of what is possible by slashing her own world records and leaving the best in the world far behind. In total, the U.S. Swim Team brought home 16 of the 46 gold medals won by Team USA in Brazil. You can read the full feature story here.

The Week That Was #4 – Swimming Australia Splits With Speedo

Photo Courtesy: Steve Christo/Swimming Australia

Last week Swimming Australia ended its partnership with suit manufacturer Speedo, terminating a relationship that dates all the way back to 1956. The split between the two organizations was effective on December 31st. Speedo, while currently based in England, was actually founded in Sydney, Australia, back in 1914. Many notable Australian Olympic swimmers have won gold competing in Speedo, from the time of Dawn Fraser all the way up to the most recent Olympics, where Cameron McEvoy and siblings Emma McKeon and David McKeon repped the brand. While it is unconfirmed what company Swimming Australia will choose as a new swimwear sponsor, a report from The Australian has indicated the organization has already signed with a new company who will be revealed later in 2017.

The Week That Was #3 – U.S. Winter Diving Nationals Take Place In Columbus

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

The 2016 USA Diving Winter National Championships took place before the holidays in Columbus, Ohio, doubling up as a qualifying event for the 2017 FISU Universiade and 2017 FINA World Championships (one-meter only). On springboard, 2016 Olympians Michael Hixon (one-meter) and Steele Johnson (three-meter) claimed first on each board, while David Dinsmore of Miami came away with the individual win in a tight platform competition. Zhipeng Zeng also placed in the top three in each individual event, and he will meet Hixon and Johnson again at Big Ten’s in February. On the women’s side, a pair of newcomers took wins on springboard. 15-year-old World Junior Champion Maria Coburn won the one-meter event and 13-year-old Hailey Hernandez won the 3 meter event. But the field wasn’t all dominated by newcomers, as Olympian Amy Cozad had a dominant performance on platform to win by nearly 50 points. Full results of the meet can be found here.

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The Week That Was #2 – Princeton Cancels Rest Of Men’s Swim Season

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In an update to the ongoing controversy surrounding the Princeton University’s Men’s Swimming and Diving team, it was announced just prior to the Christmas holiday that the rest of the team’s season would be cancelled. That announcement came just a week after it was reported that the team’s season was suspended after misogynistic and racist messages from the team members were discovered on a university listserv. In a press release issued by the University, Ford Family Director of Athletics Mollie Marcoux Samaan commented, “We expect appropriate, respectful conduct from them at all times. The behavior that we have learned about is simply unacceptable. It is antithetical to the values of our athletic program and of the University, and will not be tolerated.” This decision will end the careers of the senior class of men’s swimmers and divers while also denying the Tigers the opportunity to defend their Ivy League Conference Championship Title from last season.

The Week That Was #1 – Russian Officials Admit To Doping Athletes

Photo Courtesy: Wikipedia

Following many months of denying the existence of sponsored doping in Russian athletics, despite much evidence to the contrary, Russian officials no longer deny there was an Olympic doping operation in place among the nation’s athletes. The New York Times gathered several days worth of interviews in their most recent report, which sheds light on the doping program the country had in place back to the Sochi Olympic Games in 2014. Their admittance is likely motivated by the country’s desire to be reinstated as a nation able to hold major competitions and perform drug tests. While the acting director general of the country’s national anti-doping agency, Anna Antseliovich, said the operation “was an institutional conspiracy,” she also emphasized that top Russian officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, had no knowledge of the program. That point was emphasized by many of those interviewed, which suggest that this was not a “state-sponsored” doping program. The Times had previously reported on the Russian doping controversies back in May of 2016, when they published a detailed tell-all from Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov that exposed the fraudulent activities that were taking place within the Russian anti-doping agency. The doctor’s testimony was then used by the World Anti-Doping Agency and Richard McLaren, who released his first Independent Person’s Report prior to the 2016 Olympic Games that confirmed the systematic doping operation present in Russia.

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