Were you aware that all competitive swimmers, irrespective of age. are governed by the ASFGB (Amateur Swimming Federation of Great Britain) and FINA (Federation Internationale de Natation) Doping Protocols ?
Those of us who have signed a Welsh Amateur Swimming Association entry form authorising ourselves (or our children) to be dope tested never really consider it an issue that will involve us.
Do we ? Should we? - After all most of us think of sports dope testing as the search for Steroids
The answer to both these questions is - - Yes. we must consider it.
The reason - do you want to be involved in an innocent test failure through your ignorance ? Leading to a possible ban ?
There are two main areas that could affect the "innocent" swimmer. However it must be stressed that ignorance would not be a defence if a positive test occurs.
Asthma
There are many people in modern society who need to take Asthma medication. FINA allows only certain types of reliever to be used by competitors.
The drugs commonly used can be divided as follows:
| Allowed Asthma Drugs |
Banned Asthma Drugs |
| Sodium Cromglycate |
Ephedrine |
| Theophyline |
Isoprenaline |
| Beclomethasone (by inhalation only) |
Fenoterol |
| Flucticasone (by inhalation only) |
Rimiterol |
| Salbutamol ** |
Orciprenaline |
| Terbutaline ** |
|
| Salmeterol ** |
|
** These three drugs are permitted BY INHALER ONLY and written notification is required to be made to the governing body (Swim Wales). A declaration form can be downloaded here.
Common Ailments such as Cold / Cough, Diarrhoea, Hayfever, Pain and Vomiting
The common sense question that should be asked is should a swimmer really be swimming if they are suffering from Diarrhoea. vomiting etc? However, that aside. you should not take any of the banned drugs of which the following are examples only. The reason is that a lot of them are classed as stimulants:
| Cold / Cough / Hayfever |
ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, phenylpropanolamine, phenylephrine |
| Diarrhoea / Pain |
opioids ( eg morphine) |
So what do you do if you (or your child swimmer) has a cold - Read the packet before administering anything -LEMSIP contains phenylephrine ! ! ! ! !
This article is not intended to be and is not exhaustive and lists only a few of the many drugs banned. It is merely an attempt to make swimmers aware of the issues concerned.
Please take time to view the information on the British Swimming website.
Full details can be found at the FINA web site, or the UK Sport web site. It is also worth visiting the 100%Me website. Information about the National Anti Doping Panel can be downloaded here (it is a large file so please be patient).
Sports Drinks - Vitaminwater
The following article outlines that six of the Vitaminwater products contain banned substances. Whilst it is not certain that this product is available for sale in the UK, if any swimmers are using this product they should stop doing so immediately.