[Leica] Fakes and Drugs

[kididdoc at cox.net (Steve Barbour)]

On Aug 13, 2008, at 2:33 PM, Adam Bridge wrote:

> Speaking from intense experience as a national championship USA
> Swimming official I take offense at Didier's claim that all or even
> most swimmers are "juiced" (use performance enhancing drugs.)
>
> While it may be impossible to prove they do not, US athletes, and
> elite athletes from other nations, are tested during their training at
> unannounced intervals to look for performance enhancing drugs.
>
> It's possible there are some with better chemists than others and that
> some slip through the screening process. But FINA (the world governing
> body for swimming) and USA Swimming (the USA national governing body
> for swimming) take protection of its athletes very seriously.
>
> You will note that one swimmer was removed from the US swimming team
> when one of three urine samples was found to contain metabolites for a
> performance enhancing drug. We do look and we look really hard.
>
> Unfortunately for the athletes we don't know how accurate the drug
> testing really is.


I'm a little surprised at your personal assurances Adam, and your  
personal identification with the program, leading to the conclusion  
that it's clean,
followed by this statement...and I quote you,

> "Unfortunately for the athletes we don't know how accurate the drug  
> testing really is."

In this light, it would be better to find out if the testing has any  
credibility, rather than writing e-mails...

If the testing is innaccurate or unreliable, then it's facade...and  
you can't speak to clean athletes.

When the swimmers' samples are tested by the Tour de France testing  
system (regarded as the most aggressive and reliable,  long used and  
refined)  just how well do they fare...?

Somehow it just doesn't pass the smell test, to protest so loudly,  
then admit that the accuracy of the test system is quite unknown.

sad, just my two cents...

on something I know and care about...

Steve