Swimming news: Ryan Napoleon to retake his place in Australian team heading for the Commonwealth Games at New Delhi
The Australian swimmer Ryan Napoleon was banned from swimming for the Australian team at the Commonwealth Games scheduled to take place in New Delhi next month. The athlete was disqualified on the accusation that he used a banned drug to treat his asthma, while Ryan said that he was completely unaware that the use of the drug was illegal and his action was not intentional. The Swimming Federation accepted his justification but also said that he should have been careful with his medical treatment. However, it is very likely that the swimmer will retake his place in the Australian swimming team after his suspension.
On Tuesday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport passed a notification that the three-month long ban placed on Napoleon by FINA last month will end on Tuesday, since it has been in effect from the 15th of June. Thus, the swimmer will be competing with his compatriots at New Delhi. The 20-year-old swimmer is very enthusiastic and determined to play at the Games, and bring home medals in all the races that he competes in.
Swimming Australia spokesman expressed his happiness on the return of Ryan to the team. He said that the team is very happy to have him back, another strong swimmer of the Australian squad. He said that team will now finalise its preparations to make history at the Commonwealth Games next month in New Delhi. He also appreciated the young swimmer for how he handled the whole situation of confrontation from FINA and the Australian Swimming Federation. He also admitted that the athlete did not move his focus from the game and now that he has returned to the pool, he is way more determined and in shape. He expects Ryan to now dedicate all his time to his swimming practices, since the team is expecting a lot from him and all eyes are set on his performance.
The Commonwealth Games are spanned from the 4th to the 13th of October. Ryan Napoleon has qualified to compete in the 400 metre and 1500 metre freestyle events at the Games. Ryan is a distance swimmer.
It is expected that the swimmer does not give his best performance at the games, since the training that he was taking during the time of the ban was not adequate for an event as prestigious as the Commonwealth Games.
The ban on the Australian athlete was imposed last month by FINA, even though the authority admitted that the drug consumption was a mistake on the part of the pharmacist to treat his asthmatic issues and not the swimmer. Napoleon used the forbidden drug known as Formoterol. He found out about the consumption of this drug after he tested positive for it.
As informed by Swimming Australia, the swimmer had been under treatment for asthma for most of his life, but was previously on the drug Pulmicort. According to Ryan, Pulmicort inhaler was wrongly labelled and resulted in his suspension from the sport. The actual drug, which was labelled as Pulmicort, was Symbicort contained the banned chemical Formoterol.
After the telephone conference that the athlete had with the doping panel of FINA, the panel said that Ryan was not responsible for the consumption of the chemical, but he should have been careful about the drug that he was taking. He was also given some leverage due to his young age.
Ryan Napoleon was completely devastated at the panel’s decision of disqualifying him from the Games at Delhi but still managed to face the situation strongly and maturely. Ryan decided to challenge the decision after he found out that he would not be allowed to train with the elite Saint Peters squad in Brisbane. The head coach of the Australian Swimming team, Leigh Nugent was really upset over his suspension because he claimed Ryan as one the most lethal medal-contenders at the Games.
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