INTRODUCTION

In 1999, the International Olympic Committee led the way to creating the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) through a collective initiative of sport and governments. WADA seeks to foster a doping-free culture in sport. It combines the resources of sport and government to enhance, supplement and coordinate existing efforts to educate athletes about the harmful effects of doping, reinforce the ideal of fair play and detect those who cheat themselves and their sport.

On 5^th March, 2003, the international sports movement gathered in Copenhagen, Denmark, and approved the terms of the World Anti-Doping Code. The Code sets out “. . . specific anti-doping rules and principles that are to be followed by organisations responsible for adopting, implementing or enforcing anti-doping rules within authority — e.g., the International Olympic Committee, International Paralympic Committee, International Federations, Major Event Organisations and National Anti-Doping Organisations.”

On 11^th July, 2003, the Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA), the International Federation governing the aquatic disciplines of Swimming, Synchronised Swimming, Diving, Water Polo, Open Water Swimming and Masters Swimming, at its Extraordinary Congress in Barcelona, Spain, decided to accept the World Anti-Doping Code. Simultaneously, FINA enacted a new set of Doping Control Rules as its own Anti-Doping Rules pursuant to the Code. These Rules came into effect worldwide on 11^th September, 2003. The FINA Doping Control Rules apply to each Participant in the activities of FINA or any of its Member Federations by virtue of the Participant’s membership, accreditation or participation in FINA, its Member Federations, or their Competitions.

FINA’s new Anti-Doping Rules apply to all Doping Controls under FINA’s jurisdiction. All Member Federations must comply with FINA’s Anti-Doping Rules. Each Member Federation’s regulations must stipulate that they deem all FINA Rules, including Anti-Doping Rules, as incorporated into and directly applicable to and followed by Competitors, Competitor Support Personnel, coaches, physicians, team leaders, and club and Federation representatives under that Federation’s jurisdiction.

The Bahamas Swimming Federation [BSF] is a Member of FINA and, as such, is bound by FINA’s Doping Control Rules. Accordingly, all Competitors, Competitor Support Personnel, coaches, physicians, team leaders, and club and Federation representatives under the BSF’s jurisdiction must also comply with the FINA Doping Control Rules.

Consequently, FINA requires the BSF to:

a) report all Doping Control results of BSF and other Competitors to FINA;

b) allow FINA to conduct Doping Control at BSF National Championships or any other Competition within the BSF’s jurisdiction; and

c) allow FINA to conduct unannounced Testing on any Competitor under the BSF’s jurisdiction.

Additionally, on 31^st July, 2003, the Hon. Neville W. Wisdom, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, signed the Copenhagen Declaration on Anti-Doping in Sports on behalf of the Bahamas Government. Bahamian Athletes/Competitors are now subject to the Code and the Bahamas Olympic Association [BOA] is, effectively, the National Anti-Doping Organisation for The Bahamas for the time being. Consequently, the BOA will conduct Doping Control within The Bahamas similar to FINA's anti-doping policies and procedures.

The purpose and scope of these pages are to assist Competitors, Competitor Support Personnel, coaches, physicians, team leaders, and club and Federation representatives under the BSF’s jurisdiction understand the current anti-doping rules and policies of FINA, specifically how it affects each Person, and the Competitor’s role and responsibilities during In-Competition and Out-of-Competition Testing.

We have included the various documents and forms used by WADA and FINA in PDF format, so that you can download them, if necessary.

Our goal and mission are to ensure that Bahamian swimmers do not jeopardise their careers because of a lack of information on the subject.

The information herein is current as of 4th December, 2003.

Vincent Wallace Whitfield
SwimBahamas.com

© 2003 SwimBahamas Limited. All rights reserved.

Download the WADA World Anti-Doping Code in PDF format   (816kb)