Doping concerns cast shadow over Greek swimming squad
A shadow has been cast on the Greek national swimming team, fresh from recent successes in international competition, by doping concerns that could sideline the entire squad for two years should two athletes test positive at the World Short-Course Championships that begin in Moscow tomorrow. According to the sport’s international regulations, as imposed by its federation, the ban applies to entire national squads if four team members test positive for banned substances in international competition within a calendar year. Last summer, two Greek swimmers, Katerina Bliamou and Vassilis Demetis, failed drug tests at the Mediterranean Games in Tunis. Four months ago, Greece went against the tide of a poor past in international swimming meets, placing three swimmers and the women’s 200-meter freestyle relay team at the finals of the European Short-Course Championships. The situation is currently tense at the national swimming federation following the drug-test failure of yet another athlete, this time in domestic competition. Recent tests indicated that 18-year-old freestyle swimmer Petros Petropoulos of the Peristeri Dolphins club had used illegal performance-enhancing drugs. Though the latest discovery does not add to the tally toward the national team’s ban from international competition, it has made officials nervous ahead of their prospects in Moscow. The federation has not officially announced the finding, as it must first be verified by a follow-up test. If found guilty, Petropoulos could be banned for life because he is a repeat offender: Last year he tested positive for caffeine. Yesterday, the national swimming federation’s president, Dimitris Diathesopoulos, spoke harsh words against athletes willing to take chances. «We’ll chase them until they’re all either driven out of the sport or are reformed,» Diathesopoulos said. «We can’t control what they do at home. We’ve told them not to have doctors other than those provided by (the federation). We have called their attention to dietary supplements, because they might contain banned substances. We are going to continue testing, in any case. Since Christmas, we’ve conducted tests on over 50 athletes.»
