Tokyo Medalist Santo Condorelli Given 18-Month FINA Ban for Whereabouts Failures

Tokyo 2020 Olympic medalist Santo Condorelli has received an 18-month ban by FINA as result of ‘whereabouts failure” pertaining to anti-doping drug tests. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is in charge of doping control measures for FINA, the international governing body that oversees aquatic sports all over the world.

Condorelli’s ban began on June 24th, meaning it will extend until December 23rd, 2023. That means Condorelli will be ineligible to compete at any FINA sanctioned competition until the ban is up, which leaves the 27-year-old out of contention for a number of major meets.

A “whereabouts failure” typically indicates that said athlete has failed to submit their whereabouts, in other words, where they live or are staying temporarily, by a required deadline. The violation can also occur in the event that the athlete doesn’t provide sufficient information on how the testers can access them at home. For example, if the athlete lives in a gated community and fails to disclose that, so the testers can’t get inside, or if the athlete lives in an apartment complex and uses the main address but doesn’t include their unit number.

The specifics on Condorelli’s whereabouts violation are still unknown at the time, however, an 18-month ban has become the norm for such an offense. SwimSwam has reached out to Condorelli regarding the ban, but hasn’t yet received a response as of the time this article was published.

Condorelli won his first Olympic medal last summer, competing on Italy’s men’s 4×100 free relay, which earned silver. He swam on the prelims relay, splitting 47.90 on the 2nd leg. The Italian squad would break the national record in the event, though it would only stand until finals that night, when they lowered the mark again. Condorelli was the only member of the prelims relay in Tokyo who didn’t go on to race on the finals relay. He was replaced by Thomas Ceccon, who split 47.45 in finals.

From 2015-2018, Condorelli represented Canada internationally. He qualified for the Canadian Olympic team in 2016, where he narrowly missed out on winning an individual Olympic medal. The then 21-year-old swam a 47.88 in finals of the men’s 100 free, finishing fourth in the Olympic final by just 0.03 seconds.

Condorelli has moved around a ton his entire life. He was born in Japan, and grew up competing in and for the USA. At the 2013 U.S. Junior National Championships, Condorelli set the U.S. National Age Group Record in the LCM 100 free for 17-18 boys. He only began to compete for Canada in 2015, which he was allowed to do because his mother is a Canadian citizen. Condorelli’s father is Italian, allowing him to represent Italy internationally.