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China invited to Sydney Pan Pacs
Posted: Wednesday May 12, 1999 01:45 PM
SYDNEY (Reuters) -- China's swimmers have been invited to compete at this year's Pan Pacific championships despite a push by the United States to have them banned because of their appalling record of drugs in sport. The president of Swimming Australia, Terry Gathercole, told Reuters on Wednesday that the Americans had wanted to omit the Chinese but had been outvoted after a meeting of the Pan Pacs Charter Nations -- Australia, the U.S., Canada and Japan. "The United States did express a desire not to invite the Chinese but Australia, as host nation, put the matter to the other Charter Nations who voted to include them," Gathercole said. "We basically decided that it was better to have them competing, where we can all see them, and test them, than let them just do their own thing." China were banned from the 1995 Pan Pacs in Atlanta after Australia, Canada and the U.S. voted against their inclusion. Japan voted in support of China. Speculation that China would be banned again when the Pan Pacs came to Sydney in 1999 resurfaced after four of their swimmers failed drug tests and another was caught smuggling human growth hormones into Australia at last year's world swimming championships. But Gathercole said the mood changed towards including them after the sport's governing body FINA said it was satisfied Chinese authorities were weeding out drug cheats. This year's Pan Pacs, which will be held from August 22 to 29, are shaping as the biggest yet in the event's history, according to Gathercole. They will be staged in the pool to be used for the Sydney 2000 Olympics and invitations have been extended to every country in the world outside of Europe. But Gathercole said FINA's decision to stage the world championships every two years had cast doubts over the future of the Pan Pacs, which were introduced to give non-Europeans a major meet in non-Olympic and non-world championship years. "None of the Charter Nations want to drop the Pan Pacs but, at the same time, everyone is aware that the calendar is getting fuller and fuller and it may be that the Pan Pacs in future may be used as a development meet," Gathercole said.
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