U.S. Swimmer Sam Tierney Given Warning After WADA Rule Violation

American breaststroker Sam Tierney has been issued a public warning for a rule violation stemming from an anti-doping test in early June.

The in-competition test took place on June 3, 2016, when Tierney was competing at the USA Swimming Arena Pro Swim Series in Indianapolis. The interesting twist in this case is that Tierney’s punishment does not come as a result of a failed test; Tierney’s sample from the meet actually tested negative for banned substances.

But during the doping control process, Tierney declared on doping control records that he had used his inhaler on May 31. The inhaler included a “beta-2 agonist” called Vilanterol Trifenatate, which is listed on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)’s Prohibited List.

Tierney did not have an approved therapeutic use exemption (TUE) which would allow him to legally use the inhaler containing that substance.

According to the case record from USADA (The United States Anti-Doping Agency), Tierney applied for a TUE about a week later on June 9, but was denied. A week after that, on June 16, USADA contacted Tierney to tell him he was charged with an anti-doping rule violation.

Tierney would have faced a 3-month period of ineligibility, but requested a hearing with an arbiter. According to the USADA documents, Tierney said that in early May, he had a cough, low energy and was swimming poorly, so he went to see a doctor. The doctor diagnosed him with acute bronchitis and gave him antibiotics. On a second trip to the doctor a few weeks later, Tierney was told he still had bronchitis and was prescribed the inhaler.

Tierney says he explained to the doctor during both visits that he was a competitive swimmer who had to be careful of banned substances. He says the doctor told him bronchitis medication would not be an issue. Tierney also admitted that he did not look up the inhaler’s ingredients because “nothing the doctor said caused him any concerns,” and he also said he understands it was his responsibility as an athlete to know what substances he was putting into his body.

The arbiter ruled that Tierney taking the beta-2 agonist was indeed an anti-doping rule violation. But based on the fact that Tierney’s admitted use of the inhaler didn’t take place during competition and that he didn’t actually test positive for any banned substance, the arbiter reduced the 3-month suspension to a reprimand, allowing Tierney to compete at U.S. Olympic Trials.

Tierney advanced to semfinals in both breaststrokes at Olympic Trials, taking 15th in the 100 and 12th in the 200.

Tierney is the first American swimmer to be listed on USADA’s sanction list since 2010. You can find the full USADA sanction list here.

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James
7 years ago

This actually seems like a good job by the USADA. They investigated the underlying issues behind a potential issue, determined that while some procedures and rules were not followed to the letter no real violation has occurred.

Swimmer A
7 years ago

I think this is a non-issue and won’t amount to anything. However…. as refreshing as it is to hear that he is a stand-up guy and an all around good person, these things don’t play into the case at hand. I think sometimes people look at the qualities of an athlete and use that to justify their beliefs about whether or not they are doping. You hear things like “this person works harder than anyone,” or “they are such a good roll model.” The reality is you can be the hardest worker or the best person and still be doping, and we’ve seen this before.

With that being said, it doesn’t look like anything nefarious took place here. Hopefully… Read more »

Sven
7 years ago

I believe the guy. He didn’t use it in competition, and he didn’t test positive for it in competition. I genuinely believe he had no intentions of gaining an unfair advantage. My problem is this: he took the doctor’s word for it. That’s what Park did. Jessica Hardy took the GNC guy’s word for it. As an aspiring pro in this day and age, he’s lucky they aren’t banning him for acting like an idiot.

Here’s the bottom line:

He says he understood that he is responsible for everything that enters his body, yet he CHOSE to ignore that responsibility when he opted to not look up the inhalers ingredients. Negligence is no excuse, and in this case it is… Read more »

Stillwell
Reply to  Sven
7 years ago

I find it hard to believe that Jessica Hardy found Clenbuterol at GNC.

Lees
7 years ago

I can not believe this non-issue made your news!

Riophile
Reply to  Lees
7 years ago

Why not? Everyone was outraged when the same thing happened to a Brazilian a few weeks ago. Now that it’s an American, it’s a travesty that it was allowed out in public? Are Sam’s friends and family all Russian? Sounds like the beginning of a coverup…

https://swimswam.com/medeiros-positive-test-may-result-paperwork-error-per-report/

What good is a public warning if nobody makes it public? I think it’s great that SS gave Sam an opportunity to explain his situation since the test was public information anyway. To me that’s one of the most important roles of a news organization.

G.I.N.A.
7 years ago

Sam might be a nice person with a bad cough but there are only 24/7 hours & not enough time to worry about swimmers way down the list. When I read USADA’s 2014 list of 34 baddies -I only recognised one person .

Years of Plain Suck
Reply to  G.I.N.A.
7 years ago

Are you Gina Rinehart? If so, then you are Australia’s richest citizen with a net worth of over USD 11 Billion, and the owner of Hancock Prospecting. Pretty cool if that’s the case!

socaladvracer
Reply to  Years of Plain Suck
7 years ago

I’ve always wondered the same thing. Especially since she is a huge swimming proponent.

G.I.N.A.
Reply to  socaladvracer
7 years ago

No but you may want to think about the other Gina.

Free Style
Reply to  G.I.N.A.
7 years ago

Va?

Attila the Hunt
Reply to  G.I.N.A.
7 years ago

There is you G.I.N.A. and the other GINA.

I always confuse you for the other GINA, as both have similar styles but you G.I.N.A. is a lot more caustic/sarcastic .

G.I.N.A.
Reply to  Attila the Hunt
7 years ago

No that’s me before I decided to be capital letters like WADA There was another Gina here recently .

Penguin
Reply to  G.I.N.A.
7 years ago

what happened to Gina rhinestone?

G.I.N.A.
Reply to  Penguin
7 years ago

I got lazy & cut it down then promoted myself to an NGO.

Crawler
7 years ago

I am bothered by this episode. It reminds me entering my pool locker room after a local age group meet and seeing half a dozen inhalers left on the floor.

Live suspension
Reply to  Crawler
7 years ago

If he was Russian , you all would be screaming
Life suspension , I can not believe he ate otmeal
For breakfast to get ahead.

BackstrokerLCM
Reply to  Live suspension
7 years ago

If he was Russian he would be doing way more than an inhaler…

Crawler
Reply to  BackstrokerLCM
7 years ago

You have a point. This may not be the best case to make a point, but if we in America want exemplary punishment for dopers, we have to accept the same harshness for our own.

Ferb
Reply to  Crawler
7 years ago

Agreed, but he didn’t fail any doping test. He was warned on the basis of his own self-reporting. On the other hand, like everyone else, he’s responsible for the substances that enter his body. The old “my doctor said it would be OK” excuse is somewhat troubling. Tough call, but he probably got off a little too easy.

Lars
7 years ago

I have had the opportunity to meet and talk with Sam on numerous occasions and he could not be a more stand up guy. He has made a huge impact for the University of Missouri and is a huge reason why they have had such recent success. It’s unfortunate that in today’s world something as innocent as having bronchitis and using an inhaler for relief can be seen as an attempt at cheating. Clearly the inhaler did not provide any such benefits, seeing as he was genuinely sick. I wish Sam the best and it’s an honor to say that he has “Swam Near Me.”

LostInTheSauce
7 years ago

How dare he contract acute bronchitis just weeks before Olympic Trials. The horror…

About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …

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