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The FINA Extraordinary Congress on Doping Hong Kong, China, March 31, 1999

by John Leonard

At the World Championships in Perth in 1998, exactly 15 months ago, with the most severe doping scandal in swimming history swirling around us, had someone told me that on my 51st birthday in 1999, I would spend it as a FINA Delegate praising FINA President Mustapha Larfaoui and the FINA Bureau at a FINA Extraordinary Congress, I am certain that I would have asked when they planned to wake up and stop dreaming.

Yet that is exactly what has transpired. In the 15 months since Perth, the FINA Bureau, and its executive, led by President Larfaoui, has done a 180 degree turn and is now a "Born-Again" anti-doping crusader of the highest order. Coaches and athletes the world over, should be thankful.

In an early summary, it is fair to say that swimming is now well and truly fighting to become the cleanest major sport in the Olympic Family. I will anticipate that cynics will consider that such praise is simply damning with faint praise, the Olympic Family not being noted for its hygiene at the moment. Such is not my intent. The turnaround of the FINA Bureau is a major, serious, and forward looking initiative.

At the Congress itself, the purpose was to improve the FINA Doping Rules. This was the sole purpose of the Congress, and no additional topics are allowed. After the Perth World Championships and its depressing doping news, FINA appointed a working group of medical and legal personnel to re-write the FINA doping rules. Included in that group from the USA were lawyers Rich Young, who also serves in the IOC group, as well as the general counsel for USA Swimming, and Ross Wales, long-time FINA Vice-President from the USA who has conducted several investigations on FINA's behalf into China, and has had a hand in previous improvements of FINA Doping Rules. Malcome "Taffy" Cameron of Great Britain, secretary of the Medical Committee, and the lead player from the Medical Committee in developing the out of competition testing program that has been so effective since 1995 in catching dopers and testing to discourage cheats, was the key person once again from the Medical Community.

The working group did an outstanding job of a rewrite, and subsequent "tweaking" of the document by various review groups, and minor revisions within the Congress itself, has given us a document much improved over previous versions, and a solid groundwork for taking the process even further in the future, notably at the next FINA Congress in Sydney in 2000. Senior USA representative Jerry Olson, who has served the USA in numerous FINA Congresses, and is now President Elect of ASUA, the organization of the Americas, led the US delegation. This writer served as Mr. Olson's junior partner. (Each nation with two positions in the FINA Congress) Our representatives are selected by the USA Swimming International Relations Committee.

Here are the highlights of the legislation itself:

1) Creation of a Doping Control Review Board. 8 persons appointed by the Bureau with a majority from the medical community with relevant medical specialties. Independent of any other FINA responsibilities. Independent of the Medical Committee. They will direct and oversee the testing programs in and out of competition, and will make all proposals to the Bureau regarding doping rules. A great idea, likely to be initially led by Taffy Cameron, hero of coaches and swimmers. Taffy is a crusader of the first order. His successor will be in the hot seat, and a key position in the long term success of the FINA anti-doping efforts. A sidelight to this was a proposal to end the Medical Committee itself, borne of a frustration that the existing Medical Committee led by Allen Richardson of Hawaii, had not had time to do much of anything beyond doping in the past decade. This proposal was withdrawn by President Larfaoui, and the Medical Committee will have until Sydney to re-organize its proposals for what it will accomplish as a unit of FINA. This was a wise and progressive move, since there is much service the Medical Committee can provide to world swimming, but it has a need to re-focus its efforts to justify the expense of its existence, and show how it will provide benefit to competitors.

2. The introduction to the Doping Control Rules clearly establish what doping is, that it is a violation of rules and is strictly forbidden, and that all Federations are obligated to conform to the FINA rules, and that all competitors must submit to doping control.

3. A section on "prohibited techniques" covers such items as blood doping and physical manipulation to alter test results.

4. Athletes who train outside their own country can be tested by the host nation, and positive tests are reported immediately to the resident sport nation of the athlete. (No running and hiding from testing in other nations.)

5. Any world swimming record must be verified by doping control within 24 hours of that record setting effort. This author, and the USA position, felt that 24 hours was far too long, as indications are that doping can be masked in some cases in as little as one hour. At the Congress itself, it became clear that for some lesser developed nations, the 24 hours was a logistical challenge in and of itself, and many examples were cited where problems in testing of every type made it impossible to test immediately. One clear problem is that with the introduction of short course meter world records, records can fall at many different meets in many different circumstances, not all predictable. The prevailing opinion was that long course world records with their lengthy established history, are much easier to anticipate (at least the opportunity or likelihood of their being broken was most predictable.) Mr. Olson expressed the USA concern, and hope that in the future our administrative procedures would quickly catch up with the need for required immediate testing after a world record. No nation disagreed with us on philosophy, but practicality at the moment means a compromise of 24 hours.

6. Numerous rule sections indicate that unannounced testing by FINA is the most important and serious part of the effort to prevent doping. Out of competition testing receives a lions share of attention in the rules to make it the unassailable centerpiece of the new rules.

7. Sanctions remain strong. FINA has a four year ban for steroids and similar compounds, the only sports federation in the world to do so. (Most are 2 year penalties). A positive test cancels all results reaching back 6 months in history of that athlete. A second offense is a lifetime expulsion and cancellation of ALL results during the swimmers career.

8. A strong section on retirement, fought for by Mr. Wales, says that if an athlete retires from competition, then changes his/her mind and returns after a period of thus not being tested, and now tests positive, that positive will be treated as a SECOND positive, and lifetime ban is imposed. This prevents a swimmer from deliberately retiring to avoid testing, then training freely in a doped condition and then returning to the sport. This was a WSCA proposal from four years ago that has finally reached FINA rule status thanks to the efforts of Ross Wales. At the Congress, it created some confusion as most delegates are not daily involved in studying doping, but once explained by Mr. Wales, it was approved unanimously and with many smiles as a clever tightening of the noose on cheaters.

9. All swimmers in each nation who achieve a time in the top 50 in the world, short or long course, shall be reported to FINA by that nation, and thus are "possible targets" for FINA testing. The new rules clarified this excellent existing procedure.

10. Little noticed, and hidden in Doping Control (DC12.4) is a provision that states that if the Bureau has a reason to believe that a member Federation has violated doping control rules within its Federation, the Bureau may refer the matter to the Doping Control Panel who will have "full power" to review the facts and application of the rules.

This little section opens the door for the future where a renegade nation, consistently involved in doping violations, can be well and truly investigated by FINA, and punished.

The Future: Many small steps were taken in Hong Kong. Long time small loopholes were closed, challenging things were clarified, and a strong intent to rid swimming of doping was codified. A second phase of regulations should come forth in Sydney, at the FINA Congress there. We hope that at least the following issues will be studied for recommendation by the FINA Doping Control Review Board.

1. The freezing and saving of urine and possibly blood, for future analysis as testing improves. With continued penalties for those who evade detection now, a cheater would spend the rest of his/her life looking over their shoulder wondering when the tests would catch them, and when they would be disgraced. It would set up a scenario in which the question would not be IF the cheater would be caught but rather WHEN would the cheater be caught and put in disgrace around the world. The deterrent effect will be enormous. Indications from informed sources say that the IOC is looking at this WSCA proposal from Perth in 1998 now, and views it favorably. We hope FINA will view it similarly.

2. Provision should be made for a nation agreeing, as it joins FINA, that should certain serious violations take place within its sport nation, FINA has the legal right to launch full investigations into the circumstances within that Federation. Veteran members of the FINA "investigation group" which has visited China twice in the 1990's admit to the futility of these volunteer visits. FINA must have the right to come in and conduct full and complete investigations on its own without escort from the offending nation. The legal right to do so would have possibly cut short 25 years of abuse by the former East German government, and arguably been an effective deterrent in the case of the abuses by Chinese swimmers and their coaches and doctors. 3. FINA must tighten its existing regulations even further in regard to many parts which indicate that out of competition testing "should" be unannounced. Language should be used to reflect "must" be unannounced. Any announcement of intent to test allows a window for masking. The FINA was reluctant to completely close this window at this time, because of difficulties in always providing testing without the cooperation of the athlete in locating the person to be tested. In the future, unannounced testing must be completely unannounced and immediate to be optimally effective. This is another small step to close the noose on cheaters.

FINA is working to protect the honest athlete and the honest coach from those who cheat. Coaches and athletes around the world should be thankful for this improvement in our sporting environment, especially recognizing President Mustapha Larfaoui, Dr. Taffy Cameron, Mr. Ross Wales, and Mr. Rich Young. We must expect no less and accept nothing less than eventual total victory in FINA's war on doping.

FINA's War on Doping. In 1995, when I stood at the podium at the ASCA World Clinic in New Orleans and declared a need for a war on doping, I had only the faintest hope that that war would become FINA's war. In 1999, at this Extraordinary Congress, President Mustapha Larfaoui called it FINA's War on Doping in his opening comments.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

And thanks to all who made it happen.

John Leonard, Hong Kong, April 2, 1999