 |
| Lance Armstrong (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Armstrong will race again, but it’ll be as a swimmer, not as a cyclist
Lance Armstrong is back racing, but this time he’ll be
competing against middle-aged swimmers.
Armstrong, who was stripped of his biggest cycling
achievements last year because of doping charges, will compete at the Masters
South Central Zone Swimming Championships this weekend. The meet will be hosted
by Longhorn Aquatics at the Jamail Texas Swim Center.
U.S. Masters Swimming isn’t under the drug-testing umbrella
of the U.S. Anti Doping Agency, which gave Armstrong a lifetime ban from
competition and stripped him of his seven Tour de France titles last August.
Armstrong confessed to using drugs and performance-enhancing methods in January
during an interview with television personality Oprah Winfrey, but he declined
to cooperate with USADA’s investigation.
When he confessed to Winfrey, Armstrong expressed his desire
to race again. If he had cooperated with USADA, there was a chance his lifetime
ban could have been whittled to eight years. By then, he’d be almost 50.
In masters swimming, he’ll be racing against those his own
age.
Rob Butcher, the executive director of masters swimming,
told the American-Statesman that no one has filed a grievance objecting to
Armstrong competing in the organization’s races.
“The purpose of our organization is to encourage adults to
swim,” Butcher said.
The organization has members from age 18 to 104. Masters
swimming does not drug-test its competitors. There is a code of conduct the
swimmers must follow, but it pertains to behavior within the sport.
Armstrong, 41, has entered the meet’s three longest races —
the 500-, 1,000- and 1,650-yard freestyles. He’s seeded second in the 1,000
freestyle and third in both the 500 and 1,650. The top seed in the 1,650 —
swimming’s mile — is 50-year-old Bobby Patten, whose qualifying time of 17
minutes, 45 seconds is 15 seconds faster than Armstrong’s.
Read more here
No comments:
Post a Comment