Kirk lets loose on USA Swimming

Kirk lets loose on USA Swimming

Former Olympian Tara Kirk of Bremerton criticized USA Swimming's handing of Jessica Hardy's failed drug test and subsequent withdrawal from the U.S. Olympic team.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Friday the 21-year-old sprinter had withdrawn nearly a month after she tested positive for a low level of clenbuterol, a prohibited anabolic agent, at the Olympic trials.

"She accepts the fact that the testing was properly done and the results properly reported," her lawyer, Howard Jacobs, said in a statement released late Friday night.

Hardy had qualified for her first Olympics in the 100-meter breaststroke and 50 freestyle, along with the 400 free relay. She was a strong contender to medal in her specialty, the breaststroke.

Hardy won the 100 breast at the trials. Megan Jendrick of Puyallup was second, Kirk third and Rebecca Soni fourth. However, Soni was given Hardy's Olympic spot in the event.

"I think that if you were to ask anyone at trials what should happen if the first-place finisher were to test positive for a banned substance, they would tell you that third place would move up," Kirk wrote in a blog entry posted Saturday on wcsn.com.

"It is clear that along this road, from the timing of trials, to the USADA testing ... errors were made. And at this point, no one in the leadership of our sport is acknowledging that."

Kirk also said she believes Lara Jackson should be placed on the team.

Jackson finished third behind Dara Torres and Hardy in the 50 free. Instead, Kara Lynn Joyce, who finished fourth, was given Hardy's spot in Beijing, allowing her to swim an individual event.

Joyce was initially added to the team only as an alternate on the 400 free relay after Torres withdrew from the 100 free.

Notes

• Matthew Brown drove in four runs and Trevor Cahill threw four dominant innings to lead the U.S. baseball team to a 7-2 pre-Olympic exhibition victory over Canada in Durham, N.C.

• Anete Jekabsone scored 34 points to lead Latvia to a 75-69 victory over Becky Hammon and Russia in the opening game of the FIBA Diamond Ball tuneup tournament in Haining, China.