Banned U.S. Swimmer Receives A Reprieve

A national swimming panel reversed itself Friday night and lifted a competition ban against Jessica Foschi, the 15-year-old Long Island, N.Y., swimmer who tested positive for a banned steriod.

The ruling, done via teleconference by the same members of the U.S. Swimming board of directors who suspended Foschi Feb. 13, in effect reverts to a previous swimming jury’s decision to place Foschi on a two-year probation for a controversial positive steroid test at last summer’s national championship meet.

She still could face an uphill battle to compete at the U.S. Olympic trials March 6-12 in Indianapolis if FINA, which is swimming’s international governing body, or the U.S. Olympic Committee takes action to stop her.

FINA officials praised U.S. Swimming’s decision 10 days ago to ban Foschi for testing positive for mesterolone, a steroid not manufactured in the United States.

Officials agreed that the extraordinary about-face was triggered when FINA chose Tuesday not to penalize an Australian champion in a separate drug case.

The U.S. Swimming board hardly had been unanimous in its will to sanction Foschi in the first place, because it believed she had no knowledge of how she tested positive for the steroid mesterolone last August. So, when FINA absolved breaststroke world-record holder Samantha Riley by judging that Riley had no intent to cheat by ingesting the banned “headache pill” dextropropoxyphene, U.S. Swimming’s contention - that an athlete’s knowledge and intent are irrelevant in doping cases - was weakened.

Foschi has qualified for the Olympic Trials in three events.