USA Swimming indifference sinks Kirk

USA Swimming indifference sinks Kirk

USA Swimming should be ashamed of itself. And the U.S. Olympic Committee doesn't look good on this one, either.

The swimming federation decided to hide behind bureaucracy rather than give Tara Kirk a chance at the Olympics.

Sure, somebody might have sued if the USA Swimming had not followed Olympic selection guidelines set in February, when it assumed (in swimming's holier-than-thou way) it wouldn't have to deal with a situation like the Jessica Hardy doping case. But the procedures still allowed for giving Kirk a place she missed by 1/100th of a second with a third-place finish.

USA Swimming decided no additional team members would be added if a place became vacant after July 21. (The full text is below).

But the federation's leaders knew by July 21 that Hardy, who won the 100-meter breaststroke at the Olympic trials, had a positive doping test. (Why it took them that long to get results from trials that ended July 6 is another issue.)

At that time, they could have added Kirk as an alternate. Other federations, like USA Gymnastics, routinely do it to provide replacements in case of injury. Rosters did not need to be submitted to the International Olympic Committee until July 23.

Friday, Hardy agreed to drop her appeal of the suspension for use of the banned substance clenbuterol, meaning she had taken herself off the OIympic team. Through her attorney, Howard Jacobs, Hardy admitted the testing was accurate, denied ever taking the drug intentionally and said she would now try to find out how it got into her system (a tainted supplement seems a likely source.)

Which leaves Kirk without the chance to compete, a chance that USA Swimming should have given her or that the USOC should have forced USA Swimming to give her.

"The fault now lies on many shoulders and I fear that incompetence, laziness and deceit may have played a role,'' Kirk wrote on her wcsn.com blog. "That is much harder to take. Regardless of intent, mistakes were made and I am paying for them.

"People I trusted to do their jobs and to ensure the working order of the system we put in place for our sport failed me."

All these sports organizations talk about the Olympics being about the athletes.

Which makes their inaction in the Kirk case more inexcusable.

Just like all that blather from swimmers (except Gary Hall, bless him) about their sport being free of the doping that besets track and field.



(The USA Swimming text follows).

If, for any reason, an additional Team position or an additional event position shall become vacant after July 21, 2008, (entry deadline), no additional members shall be added to the Team. If USA Swimming is permitted to fill a vacant event position, such vacant event position shall be filled with the swimmer already on the Team who has recorded the fastest time in such vacant event during the period beginning January 1, 2006 through July 6, 2008, provided, however, that the replacement swimmer must agree, after consulting with the Head Coach and National Team Head Coach and General Manager, to compete in the additional event. If the replacement swimmer does not agree to swim in the additional event, then the replacement swimmer shall not be considered an Available Swimmer for that event. This process shall repeat until the event is filled.