Australian swimming coach involved in drug scandal in China

Denis Cotterell, an experienced Australian swimming coach, has strongly defended Chinese swimming, adamantly refuting allegations of widespread doping following a recent drug scandal that has caused uproar in the sport in the lead-up to the Paris Olympics.

In an uncommon and exclusive interview, Cotterell shed light on his experiences within the Chinese Swimming Association, where he has been coaching for the past two years.

Cotterell, renowned for guiding swimmers like Grant Hackett, Giaan Rooney, and Daniel Kowalski to Olympic success, reveals his intermittent involvement with the Chinese Swimming Association dating back to 2009.

Notably, he mentored Sun Yang, the Chinese Olympic champion, who is nearing the completion of a four-year suspension for tampering with drug samples and violating anti-doping regulations.

Chinese swimming has been engulfed in controversy following revelations that 23 athletes tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ), a prescription heart medication with performance-enhancing properties, just seven months prior to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Despite the positive tests, swimmers were permitted to compete at the Games.

Officials from China’s Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) attributed the swimmers’ positive samples to contaminated food discovered in team accommodations during a training camp, including “sink drains, spice containers, and cooktop vents.”

Denis Cotterell, though not authorized to represent the Chinese Swimming Association, agreed to speak out in defense of his integrity. Despite feeling apprehensive about the interview, he stands firm in supporting his swimmers, denying any involvement in a state-sponsored doping program.

“I stand by my swimmers 100 percent,” Cotterell asserted, emphasizing that any positive test results were not orchestrated. He expressed confidence in the measures taken to ensure clean sport and dismissed suspicions of systemic doping, rooted in events from the 1990s.