U.S. Swimming Team Looks for Clarity
By KAREN CROUSE
Published: August 5, 2008
BEIJING — A cloud has hung over the United States swim team the past two weeks, but this was ridiculous. When the Americans walked into the National Aquatics Center on Monday night for their first look at the facility known as the Water Cube, they saw a hazy shade of summer.
Times journalists and special contributors explore the Olympics in Beijing and on the Web from every angle — the politics, the culture and the competition.
The air inside the swim center was nearly as soupy as outside. The sprinter Dara Torres, who is asthmatic, entered the building with Mark Schubert, the national team director. As Schubert recounted Tuesday night: “She’s looking up there and she’s going, ‘That can’t be what I think it is.’ And I go, ‘Nah, it’s not.’ ”
Torres and Schubert grew up in Southern California, so they know bad air. What greeted them Monday, Schubert said, “was certainly not any worse than L.A. in the ’70s.” On Tuesday afternoon, it was clear enough to see the Beijing skyline and the Water Cube ceiling. “It was pretty spectacular,” Schubert said. “I think we’re lucky to be indoors. I think the effects will be minimal.”
The cloud of controversy hovering over the team since one of its Olympians failed a drug test at the Olympic trials will take longer to dissipate. There was nothing minimal about the effects of Jessica Hardy’s positive test for a banned substance at the United States Olympic trials in July.
Hardy, who made the team in three events — the 100-meter breaststroke, the 50 freestyle and the 4x100 freestyle relay — tested positive for clenbuterol, a prohibited anabolic agent, after finishing fourth in the 100 freestyle on July 4. Her backup B sample was also positive.
Schubert said he learned of the results of Hardy’s B sample July 21, the deadline for all sports to submit rosters to the United States Olympic Committee.
The swim team’s selection process did not have a provision for adding alternates, so as long as Hardy was still on the team, the swimmers who finished third in the 100 breaststroke and 50 free — Tara Kirk and Lara Jackson — could not be put on the roster.
An alternate, Kara Lynn Joyce, was named to the Olympic team the day after the trials after Torres withdrew from the 100 freestyle to concentrate on relays and the 50 freestyle. Joyce, seventh in the 100 freestyle, could be added, Schubert said, because Torres had withdrawn and “everybody, from the winner to the sixth-place finisher, is eligible for the relay.”
Hardy withdrew from the Olympic team last Friday.
Rebecca Soni, who made the Olympic team in the 200 breaststroke and was fourth in the 100 breaststroke, will take Hardy’s place in the 100. In the 50, Hardy’s replacement will be Joyce, who was fourth at the trials.
Upon hearing of Hardy’s withdrawal, Kirk said: “I definitely think this is the worst possible result because now I feel like I was second at trials and I don’t get to go to the Olympics.”
She added: “I feel like they already changed trials criteria once. I don’t understand why they aren’t willing to do the right thing in this situation.” On Tuesday, while addressing the subject for the first time, Schubert said, “Basically we’re just following the selection procedure.”
Asked if the selection process would be revisited, Schubert said: “Absolutely. Rightfully so.”
Times journalists and special contributors explore the Olympics in Beijing and on the Web from every angle — the politics, the culture and the competition.
The air inside the swim center was nearly as soupy as outside. The sprinter Dara Torres, who is asthmatic, entered the building with Mark Schubert, the national team director. As Schubert recounted Tuesday night: “She’s looking up there and she’s going, ‘That can’t be what I think it is.’ And I go, ‘Nah, it’s not.’ ”
Torres and Schubert grew up in Southern California, so they know bad air. What greeted them Monday, Schubert said, “was certainly not any worse than L.A. in the ’70s.” On Tuesday afternoon, it was clear enough to see the Beijing skyline and the Water Cube ceiling. “It was pretty spectacular,” Schubert said. “I think we’re lucky to be indoors. I think the effects will be minimal.”
The cloud of controversy hovering over the team since one of its Olympians failed a drug test at the Olympic trials will take longer to dissipate. There was nothing minimal about the effects of Jessica Hardy’s positive test for a banned substance at the United States Olympic trials in July.
Hardy, who made the team in three events — the 100-meter breaststroke, the 50 freestyle and the 4x100 freestyle relay — tested positive for clenbuterol, a prohibited anabolic agent, after finishing fourth in the 100 freestyle on July 4. Her backup B sample was also positive.
Schubert said he learned of the results of Hardy’s B sample July 21, the deadline for all sports to submit rosters to the United States Olympic Committee.
The swim team’s selection process did not have a provision for adding alternates, so as long as Hardy was still on the team, the swimmers who finished third in the 100 breaststroke and 50 free — Tara Kirk and Lara Jackson — could not be put on the roster.
An alternate, Kara Lynn Joyce, was named to the Olympic team the day after the trials after Torres withdrew from the 100 freestyle to concentrate on relays and the 50 freestyle. Joyce, seventh in the 100 freestyle, could be added, Schubert said, because Torres had withdrawn and “everybody, from the winner to the sixth-place finisher, is eligible for the relay.”
Hardy withdrew from the Olympic team last Friday.
Rebecca Soni, who made the Olympic team in the 200 breaststroke and was fourth in the 100 breaststroke, will take Hardy’s place in the 100. In the 50, Hardy’s replacement will be Joyce, who was fourth at the trials.
Upon hearing of Hardy’s withdrawal, Kirk said: “I definitely think this is the worst possible result because now I feel like I was second at trials and I don’t get to go to the Olympics.”
She added: “I feel like they already changed trials criteria once. I don’t understand why they aren’t willing to do the right thing in this situation.” On Tuesday, while addressing the subject for the first time, Schubert said, “Basically we’re just following the selection procedure.”
Asked if the selection process would be revisited, Schubert said: “Absolutely. Rightfully so.”