Kuwaiti swimmer Abdul Rehaman Al Bader tested positive for the banned substance Methylhexaneamine at the 1st- annual GCC Championships in Bahrain last October. As has been established as a going-rate for the stimulant, he received a 6-month ban retroactive to October 19th. That’s the same length that has ultimately been handed out to American Sean Mahoney and Brazil’s Fabiola Molina (after FINA appeal) in the past few years.
This substance, which is not uncommon in pharmacy products and supplements, is becoming a bigger issue lately. Texas A&M swimmer Boris Loncaric also received a 4-month suspension last year for the same substance.
Al Bader is one of Kuwait’s top swimmers, and the 22-year old took three golds and a silver at the GCC Championships. That included winning the 100 (1:05.33) and 200 (2:22.18) breaststrokes, along with silver in the 50 breast and a win as a part of the 400 medley relay.
Methylhexaneamine is commonly used as a nasal decongestant and a weight loss supplement. This is a relatively new outlawed substance, having been banned by WADA only beginning in 2010, but it has already caused a huge number of positive tests across all sports.
On October 19, 2011, a swimmer Abdul Rehaman Al Bader (KUW) was tested positive to the substance Methylhexaneamine (Class S.6 Stimulants) following a doping control test conducted with the occasion of the 1st GCC Games-Bahrain 11.
The Kuwait Anti-Doping Disciplinary Commission (KADDC) imposed a sanction of 6 months’ ineligibility on the athlete starting on October 19, 2011.
