On November 10, 2024, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation released an episode of Australian Story—a national current events TV series—titled “Comeback.” The episode featured Shayna Jack, an Australian swimming superstar who trains under Dean Boxall at St.Peters Western, and chronicled the tumultuous journey that has been her career thus far—marked by a doping scandal, suspension, and triumphant return at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Doping Scandal & Her Suspension
On June 14, 2019, just 5 weeks prior to the start of the 18th World Aquatics Swimming Championships, Jack announced that she would be withdrawing from the event. Weeks later, it was confirmed that she had tested positive for the banned substance Ligandrol, a revelation that led to a provisional suspension. Despite maintaining her innocence, Jack faced a four-year ban, which was later reduced to two years after the Court of Arbitration for Sport acknowledged the unintentional ingestion of the substance. During her suspension, Jack was ostracized from the swimming community and faced an immense financial burden as a result of the legal battle.
The Documentary:
In the documentary, Jack offered a deeply personal look into her life during the scandal, revealing the emotional toll of being labeled a “drug cheat,” the relentless fight for her innocence, and the moment she finally felt redemption.
She starts the documentary by revealing the relief she felt after winning gold in Paris, describing it as a moment where she no longer had to prove herself. Holding up her medals, she explained that:
“As much as these [gold medals] are heavy, it literally felt like the weight of the world lifted off my shoulders.”
Jack goes on to explain that for years, she felt like had been fighting a battle against a system that had already decided her fate. No matter how much she spent on testing or legal fees to prove her innocence, she remained vilified. However, after standing atop the Olympic podium, she finally felt at peace and as if she “no longer needed to prove anything.”
The documentary revisits Jack’s early years as a swimmer and her rapid rise in the sport. In 2017, she was named Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Swimmer of the Year, a title that had her dreaming of Tokyo 2020. However, in 2019, her life changed when she was pulled aside by the head coach during Australia’s training camp in South Korea and told that she had tested positive for a banned substance.
Her coach, Dean Boxall, makes an appearance and recalls the moment:
“She was hysterical because she knew what failing a drug test meant. Within 24 hours, she was on a plane back to Brisbane.”
Jack, in disbelief, insisted:
“I knew I didn’t take any drugs.”
Yet, her test results showed the presence of Ligandrol, an anabolic drug known for muscle growth and repair. The detection of such a substance raised immediate suspicion, though experts in the documentary noted that the drug was incredibly easy to detect—something an intentional cheater would likely avoid. Jack claims she had never even heard of Ligandrol before the scandal.
The backlash from the public was severe. Jack was forced to train alone during public hours and subjected to constant harassment, including death threats. Yet she persisted, asserting:
“No matter how many times I get knocked down, I will get up and I will get up fighting.”
Her mental health suffered greatly. Boxall admitted that he even feared for her life:
“Her mental health was not good, to the point where I thought she might not be in this world.”
Jack spent thousands of dollars testing her supplements, but all results came back clean. Eventually, it was determined that the amount of Ligandrol found in her system was so minuscule that it had no pharmacological effect on her body, leading to speculation that it had entered her system unknowingly during training camp.
Still, the appeals process was expensive, and Jack nearly gave up due to financial constraints. She turned to the public for support and was able to raise over $50,000 through GoFundMe to continue her legal battle.
During this time, she considered walking away from the sport entirely. She earned a criminology degree and enrolled for the police academy. However, swimming remained a part of her identity, and when her suspension ended, she set her sights on a comeback.
Jack returned to competitive swimming at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, though her journey remained fraught with challenges. She had planned to return to competition at the 202 World Championships; however, just weeks before the competition, she broke several fingers after getting them caught in another swimmer’s suit. This required her to pull out of the 2022 Worlds as the injury required surgery and an eight-week recovery period. She decided to refocus on the Games, although there were only four weeks between the two meets.
Against all odds, she recovered and competed anyway, winning bronze in the 50m freestyle (24.36) and silver in the 100m freestyle (52.88).
Jack continued to build momentum following the Commonwealth Games: she competed at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships, earning a silver in the 50m free and earning gold as a member of Australia’s world-record breaking 4×100 free relay. She was also crucial to Australia’s wins in the 4×100 mixed free relay and 4×200 free relay, along with their silver in the 4×100 mixed medley relay. Jack left Fukuoka with a total of 5 medals (3 Gold, 2 Silver), and a world record.
The defining moment of her redemption, however, came at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she helped Australia secure gold in both freestyle relays. She split a 52.35 in the final of the 4×100 as the second leg, and went on to swim in prelims of the 4×200, anchoring Australia home in a 1:57.29 to help them secure the top seed.
Even then, her journey was not without hurdles—Boxall revealed that Jack and seven other Australian swimmers contracted RSV, a respiratory virus, just before their individual events. Jack ultimately finished 8th in the 50m free and 5th in the 100m free in the Olympic final.
Jack ends the documentary with a note that she has not yet decided whether she will continue to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and she no longer sees swimming as the “end-all, be-all” of her life. For now, she is content knowing she fought for her name, her career, and her redemption.
Watch the full documentary here.
Strong come back ! Good on you
Grrrrrr SUN YANG ROOT OF ALL EVIL IN THE WORLD GO SHANYA
omg rsv? i thought it was just covid. kinda wild so many aussies got sick since they were the only swimming delegation i noticed that routinely wore masks (or maybe that was the response from so many of them getting sick)… have to imagine they would have taken out the us on the medals total sans covid…
do we know who else got sick? seems its now been confirmed that lani, shayna, zsc, kaylee, and ella all got sick. and im assuming kai and sam williamson also got sick based on their results?
I heard that a couple of guys not listed got sick but unconfirmed so won’t say their names.
Did you mean Al? All is a strange name!
As an Aussie – I’m always rooting for our swimmers – however, Jack is too fixated on this issue. Like you failed a drug test and copped a ban. That’s it. End it. No need to discuss it any further. Just like any swimmer from any other country. If they fail a test – consequences will be given. Like focus on your future and stop harping on your past. I know it’s a big story and many people associate her with it but give it a rest. You aren’t a victim.
I agree. The more she references the doping ban, the less likely I am to believe her
I agree. Even if she was innocent, it’s been talked about enough. She’s basically ensuring this will be all she’s ever known for.
She spends so much time explaining her innocence.I think she was guilty but that’s just my opinion.All the seeking out of attention just reconfirms my opinion.
That’s a good observation, agree with you
Maybe she has to keep explaining her innocence because of people with “opinions” like yours. Give it a break boss.
I dunno. Her punishment was a lot harsher than some other swimmers. Eg Chinese swimmers who didn’t miss any competition or training.
think back to warnie – my mum gave me the pill to get rid of my double chin.
She was as innocent as all the other test failures that conjured up a contamination excuse.
Yeah I swear this is like the 15th “tell all”. At this point feels far bigger than anything she has achieved/will achieve in swimming.
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General reply to this whole sub thread as I know several other Aussie’s replied to you so you get a nice general Aussie opinion section. I appreciate the level headed comments expressing your opinions. It’s not the first time it’s happened, not even the first time it’s happened with the specific topic of Shayna’s situation. I just felt this was a good opportunity to thank the international (since SwimSwam is based in the US) portion of this community for the continued insight and perspectives.
It was interesting to see what I refer to the as the Lance Armstrong effect being referenced. That she seems to be trying too hard and innocent or not it’s just going to make it becoming… Read more »
I wish Aussies would just acknowledge that they have the same biases as everyone else. I think the lot would be much less insufferable that way.
You guys wouldn’t buy this story if she wasn’t Australian and you know it.
She tried to throw under the bus. They said the blender used by her brothers and partner could have been the source as one of three sources of contamination they put forward. None were provable. One bro is an upcoming swimmer. Her partner is a national level field hockey player.
As an Aussie, the word ‘rooting’ means something different for us…