Chinese swimmers kept a clean record in 2004 with no positive
results from 794 doping tests, the Chinese Swimming Association
(CSA) announced on Thursday.
According to Li Hua, vice president of the CSA, 352 Chinese
swimmers from 25 teams took the tests, including 724 tests done by
the CSA and the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) and 70 by the Federation
Internationale de Natation Amateur (FINA), the sport's world
governing body, and the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA).
Since the late 1990s, China has conducted a vigorous anti-doping
campaign with more intensive testing and harsher penalties for
doping cheats. Violators may be banned from their sport for
life.
China became a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code in 2003.
The China Doping Control Center in Beijing has maintained IOC
accreditation for 15 consecutive years and is ranked as a Class A
laboratory.
The nation's domestic anti-doping regulation went into effect in
March 2004, making China one of the few countries waging the war on
drug cheats through the law.
The Spring National Swimming Championships, which also serve as
the trial for July's World Swimming Championships in Montreal,
Canada, and selection for the quadrennial National Games in
October, open on Friday.?
Olympic champion Luo Xuejuan and other top swimmers will
participate in the seven-day competition.
(Xinhua News Agency April 15, 2005)