Foschi is the first American swimmer to test positive for drugs–in her case, the anabolic steroid, mesterolone–since 1988. She insists she never took it, and suggests her Gatorade may have been sabotaged. After she passed a lie-detector test, a review board for the sport’s governing body, U.S. Swimming, gave her two years’ probation.
In the swimming world, that slap on the wrist caused a big splash. The U.S. federation has been leading an international campaign decrying drug use by Chinese swimmers. (In recent years, Chinese women have set remarkable world records; with 19 Chinese swimmers having tested positive for drugs already this decade, the U.S. federation wants the drug rules made even tougher.) “This decision doesn’t hurt our credibility,” says John Leonard, director of the American Swimming Coaches Association. “It destroys it.” Federation president Carol Zaleski has denounced her own panel’s ruling and is appealing it to the board of directors. Both want. Foschi suspended for two years. Swimming’s international governing body, FINA, probably won’t be moved by a young American’s tearful denials or swayed by conspiracy theories. Foschi seems far more likely to wind up in court than in Atlanta next summer. *
