The international swimming federation has announced that its executive director has been called to testify as a witness in a U.S. criminal investigation involving 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned substance in 2021 but were still allowed to compete. This revelation comes shortly before the Paris Olympics, where 11 of these Chinese swimmers are scheduled to participate. The House Committee on China requested on May 21 for the Justice Department and the FBI to look into the case using a federal law that permits investigations into suspected doping conspiracies regardless of where they occurred.
World Aquatics, the governing body for swimming, confirmed that its executive director, Brent Nowicki, received a witness subpoena from the United States government. Nowicki is in the process of coordinating a meeting with the government that may eliminate the need for him to testify before a Grand Jury. However, World Aquatics did not disclose details about where or when Nowicki was served the subpoena or which office is handling the investigation. The FBI has not yet provided any comments on the matter.
Despite testing positive for a banned heart medication just prior to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, these Chinese swimmers were still permitted to compete. Chinese authorities attributed the positive tests to food contamination, a claim that the World Anti-Doping Agency has accepted and defended. The news of these positive tests only surfaced earlier this year when reports from the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD shed light on the case.
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