Swimming: Drugs spark angry words from Thorpe

FUKUOKA - Ian Thorpe launched an astonishing attack on swimming's world governing body yesterday, accusing Fina of not doing enough in the war against drugs.

The Australian teenager abandoned his normal diplomatic approach to say he believed the sport was not drug-free and never would be while Fina was in charge.

"A lot of things that Fina do disappoint me and one of those is the lack of tests they carry out," Thorpe said after breaking his own world record to win the 800m freestyle title at the world championships in Japan.

His time was 7m 39.16s.

"From an outsider's point of view, it doesn't look good. There is no deterrent."

Asked whether swimming was clean, Thorpe replied: "It's not at the moment and I don't know if it ever will be."

Earlier yesterday, one of swimming's top doping experts questioned the reliability of tests used to detect erythropoietin (EPO), one of the most dangerous banned drugs in sport.

Fina has come under fire for deciding not to test for EPO at the world championships when other sports federations, including the International Amateur Athletic Federation, have announced they will.

But the chairman of Fina's Doping Control Review Board, Andrew Pipe, felt the tests were still unreliable and doubted whether they would stand up in a court of law.

"Any test that is applied has to survive a legal challenge," Pipe said. "And the technology being used is still in its infancy."

New Zealand's David Gerrard, chairman of the Fina sports medicine committee, said he supported Pipe's verdict.

Meanwhile, 18-year-old Thorpe has also criticised Fina over its decision not to include the 800m in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Although the final decision rests with the IOC, Fina announced last week that it would not recommend the 800 be added to the programme.

"Every time Fina makes a decision, it's usually not in the best interests of the swimmers," Thorpe said.

"This just makes you question why you try to get the best out of yourself right across the board ... and why you do all those long hours of training."

Thorpe could have aimed to emulate American Mark Spitz's effort at the 1972 Munich Games with seven gold medals in Athens, based around his programme of 100, 200, 400 and 800m freestyle, plus all three men's relays.

But he said he might have to start looking for a new event if Fina failed to change its mind about the 800.

That could mean a showdown with Olympic 1500m champion Grant Hackett over Hackett's specialist distance.

Fellow Australian Hackett was second to Thorpe in the world-breaking 800m, also going under the old record.

"You saw how great it was for the crowd, for the sport, for everything else around it," Hackett said.

"We've both broken the world record twice this year from two attempts.

"There's still three years before the Olympics so hopefully they can change things around. We need the 800."

- AGENCIES