The past few days have been quite interesting in the Indian swimming space. While on the one hand, there is the excitement of upcoming events — like the Asian Games, the Juniors and Sub-Junior Nationals; on the other hand, there is this discomfiture around a young swimmer testing positive in a doping test. The incident has indeed rocked the swimming fraternity in India. There have been a few articles on the incident in the mainstream newspapers and websites, which is huge considering how little space swimming finds in newspapers anyways. Messages flowing across WhatsApp have been rife with speculation on who the swimmer might be (the name is not revealed due to her being a minor). There are many discussions on the sidelines of the pools, with parents speculating on which other swimmers could be potential candidates for such lists. Performances and records are being tainted in the bargain. There is no sacred cow left in swimming per se.
There has been a provisional ban placed on the athlete, and the same has been stalled from being a part of the Indian swimming contingent for the Asian Games. To be fair, we do not know the complete story as of now — especially from the swimmer’s side. Whatever is floating around is very one-sided, starting with the provisional list of banned athletes to a comment from the Swimming Federation of India (SFI). The heart goes out to the young talented swimmer, who on the cusp of great glories has now been drowned in a cauldron of shame. The family that has sacrificed so much would be facing a harrowing time. The coach of the swimmer would be impacted too, with doubts being raised on the other performers in his academy. Considering the blood, sweat and tears that go into becoming a ‘star’ swimmer in India, an incident like this is a nightmare no swimmer should face.
The Bigger Issue
And yet, looking at the broader picture — this incident should be a wake-up call for all the stakeholders of swimming. It might be easy to dub the incident as a one-off incident, but it will be foolish to do so. Indian swimming is progressively getting very competitive, especially in the younger age groups. One often witnesses New Meet Records at almost all the meets, whether state or national. The bar is being raised constantly. This simply means that winning accolades at a younger age is becoming tougher and more challenging each year. For instance, take the case of India’s ace backstroker Srihari Nataraj, when he was 14 years old in 2015 — he won gold medals at national meets by clocking 29.44 in 50M, 1:03.42 in 100M. Now, these timings are being given at state-level meets. The current record for Group 2 (14 years) in Backstroke is 28.06 in 50M and 1:00.81 in 100M. That’s gives an indication of the way records are tumbling at Junior & Sub-Junior levels. The stakes are much higher now, and so is the bar.
In the same years, there has been an explosion in nutritionists guiding swimmers. Now almost every swimmer that is performing at certain levels has a nutritionist behind him/her, guiding on how much carbs to take, or how much protein to consume. In addition, there is this whole set of supplements that have come into the picture as well. From pills to gels, swimmers are experimenting with anything that promises them certain advantages in terms of performance or recovery. At any of the swimming meets, you will see young swimmers downing gels, and liquids, to get that micro advantage — the differentiator between victory and defeat. Most of the time, the swimmers and their families are completely oblivious to the ingredients of all the pills, gels or powders. How can they ever know, if the stuff they are having is clean or not? For instance, there is a comprehensive list of banned substances by WADA, which is frequently updated. The list is almost impossible to decipher for a layperson. How can one expect swimmers to peer into the ingredients list and then cross-check the WADA list?
Anti-Doping Mechanisms
This is where the sports authorities should come in. Sporting bodies like SFI, Sports Authority of India (SAI), and state associations, all should take a proactive role in talking about the implications of taking the banned substances and how and where they are found. There must be advisories given out at regular intervals, pamphlets circulated at meets, coaches sensitised, and the website must specify a list of dos and don’ts, namely on things that must be avoided or not. Sports governing bodies across the world have their standards, codes and practices when it comes to dealing with doping issues. Take the case of USA Swimming, there is a comprehensive web page on doping with a host of articles and other resources, including an Anti-Doping 101 Video. Meanwhile, the SFI website does have a page on Anti-Doping but this is just a collation of 5 documents from different places. More efforts need to be done in terms of awareness and education. There are many cases globally, where these doping bans have been overturned on finding that the athlete had inadvertently taken the substance, possibly as a part of medication or food without knowing about it. The liabilities, the arbitration, etc. all must be very objectively clarified by the governing bodies.
Indian sports bodies must also implement a comprehensive testing mechanism. All the winners at the national level, irrespective of their age, gender or experience, must be tested. With regular and exhaustive testing, swimmers will be aware of the process and will need to come clean. And it isn’t like, we aren’t accustomed to testing – remember those RTPCR tests during the pandemic. Why can’t there be a similar effort undertaken to make the sport clean? This would also clear the air on lot many gossips that take place on the sidelines of the pool, where great performances are sullied as one enhanced by substances or supplements. After all, Michael Phelps had famously stated that while being the most celebrated swimmer on the planet, he was also the most tested one. And with all those testing, his records shine with a glimmer of their own, unlike that say of Sun Yang, the Chinese swimmer. We should introduce these testing from the upcoming meets itself — there shouldn’t be any delay or excuses for the same.
In the end, we must remember, that having a level-playing field is very essential, especially in a country as diverse as India. We owe it to the athletes who have put in their years of hard work and sacrifices, that they compete on a level playing field and are rewarded for their talent and skills. Protecting clean athletes is as essential as running the game itself.