In the midst of an 18-month suspension by FINA after testing positive for testosterone in the fall, Park Tae-Hawn is looking for a way to get back in the water and train.
Due to the suspension, Park is not allowed to return to the National Training Center where he’s spent many years preparing for international competition. The issue lies within the details of FINA’s anti-doping policy which states that any athlete serving a suspension, “cannot participate in a training camp, exhibition or practice organized by his or her Member Federation or a club which is a member of that Member Federation or FINA or which is funded by a governmental agency.”
Park’s only option for training now is to find a suitable environment that it not in direct conjunction with the Korean Swimming Federation.
According to the Korea Herald, there is preliminary talk between Park and his former coach Roh Minsang with Park’s objective to swim with Roh’s club.
Roh and his team train at the Olympic Swimming Pool in Seoul. According to the Korea Herald, both Park and Roh are waiting to see if the facility itself will give Park the go-ahead so that he can train there.
As the KSF doesn’t have any standing with the pool itself, it is up to the facility to determine whether or not Park will be allowed to train there. By all FINA regulations, he will be able to permitted the facility allows him.
Earlier reports said that if Park gets the go-ahead, he could begin training there as early as June 1.
The timing of his return could be off as Park is currently in the middle of a legal battle with the doctor who is only known by the surname Kim. Said doctor was the one involved in the injection of the banned substance. Park’s team is claiming that the doctor committed professional negligence by failing to inform Park of the contents within the syringe.
Park is set to testify against the doctor in court June 4th, precisely three days after his expected return to the pool. .
Assuming that the facility grants Park the right to train at the Olympic Swimming Pool with Roh’s club, Park will be training there at least until March 2, 2016 when he would once again be legible to train at the National Training center in Seoul.
At that point his return to the sport may once again be up in arms. As per the rule put into place last July by the Korean Olympic Committee, any athlete who serves a drug related ban is barred from national teams for three years beginning on the day the suspension ends.
If the KOC upholds this rule, it would mean that Park won’t be able to compete internationally until March of 2019, and that he will not be present at the 2016 Olympic Games.
Park hasn’t stated any direct desire to compete at the Olympic Games. In his first press appearance since the doping ban, PArk said, “It’s not time to talk about future here as I made a mistake that I myself couldn’t accept,” when asked about the possibility of competing at the 2016 Olympic Games.
Actually, I am pretty sure anyone that FINA has on suspension is not allowed to train in a different country or club. They aren’t suppose to be training at all. So USA Swimming and SwimMac would be at fault if they allowed him to train there until his suspension is up.
What ever happened to him training with SwimMac?
The same punishment should befall Sun as well. He skated due to the complicity of FINA and the Chinese sports machine. If Korea had as many world class athletes as China, FINA would have gone easier on him.