The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- February 15, 1999

Swimming to use revised drug-testing procedures

Student-athletes chosen for drug testing at this year's men's and women's swimming and diving championships will experience a new selection protocol for specimen collection.

The NCAA Executive Committee in January approved a request from the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports to modify the drug-testing protocol for specimen collection used during NCAA team/individual championships.

The proposal, which subjects student-athletes to same-day drug testing, will become effective at the 1999 men's and women's swimming and diving championships.

The request originated from the NCAA Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Committee, which had expressed concern that the current drug-testing protocol could allow athletes using banned drugs to avoid detection due to the amount of time between competition and the end-of-championship drug test.

"At our coaches meeting before last year's meet, there was a sentiment that something needed to be done to make sure we were running a clean championship," said Kevin W. McNamee, associate athletics director at George Mason University and chair of the swimming and diving committee. "The committee was trying to answer that call with proactive steps to do the daily drug testing. We wanted to eliminate the loop holes."

The request was formulated during the committee's annual meeting in September.

The competitive-safeguards committee supported the committee's request and, in fact, supported changing the protocol for all team/indi- vidual championships; however, the new protocol will become effective only for the 1999 swimming and diving championships at this time to accommodate the swimming and diving committee's request.

The new protocol calls for a specimen collection to be taken from randomly selected athletes after their final competition of each day and again at the end of the championships.

"Swimming had a real concern about the way that drug testing was conducted at the championships," said Frank D. Uryasz, NCAA director of sports sciences. "The way we were conducting testing made it possible for an athlete to avoid testing positive. We think same-day testing will help."

Under the new system, competitors will be notified at the beginning of the day that they must provide a specimen for drug testing at the end of their final event of the day. A random competitor and the champion also will be tested after the finals of each event.

"The competitive-safeguards committee is making an effort to partner with swimming and diving to make the sport cleaner," Uryasz said. "It is a positive move and an example of how sports committees and the competitive-safeguards committee can work together."