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Medical Issues in Swimming

mustapha_larfaoui_thumbMESSAGE FROM MUSTAPHA LARFAOUI

FINA President

It is my pleasure to welcome all the delegates in Manchester (GBR) for the 16th FINA World Sports Medicine Congress, to be held on April 7-8, 2008.

Since the first FINA Sports Medicine Congress, which took place in 1969 in London, the conferences and presentations submitted during the last 15 editions represent a source of information that continues to be useful to our athletes, coaches, clubs and Federations.

Three goals preside to this initiative:

  • To preserve and if possible to improve the athletes’ health;
  • To ensure their physical and mental condition through a harmonious activity;
  • To maintain, whenever possible, the equality of chances between competitors

Our Federation is proud of being one of the few International Sport Federations that, for so many years, carried out a policy of information and exchange of knowledge and ideas in the wide field of sports medicine.

Being also one of the FINA’s goals to disseminate and accelerate the participation of young competitors in our sport, it is of relevant importance to detect, correct and prevent the health or injuries problems that are inevitably associated with the practice of any physical activity.

This year, I particularly salute Professor Arne Ljungqvist, IOC Member in Sweden, WADA Vice-President, and Chairman of both the IOC Medical Commission and the WADA Health, Medical & Research Committee. We thank him for accepting being the presenter of the 2008 Bleasdale Memorial Lecture.

I also address FINA’s gratitude to the Organisers of this Congress in Manchester (GBR), but also to all members of the FINA Sports Medicine Committee under the efficient leadership of Dr Margo Mountjoy.

I am sure that our 194 FINA Member National Federations will benefit from this debate. Our main goal is to be useful to them.

To all of you I wish a fruitful Congress and a nice stay in this lively city.

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Anti-Doping, The challenge...and the Opportunity

Dr Andrew Pipe,
Chairman FINA Doping Control Review Board

Dr Andrew Pipe

Dr. Andrew Pipe graduated from Queen's University in 1974. Currently Chief of the Division of Prevention and Rehabilitation at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Dr. Pipe is a Professor at the University of Ottawa, with appointments in the Department of Family Medicine and the Division of Cardiac Surgery.

Dr. Pipe's research interests have included smoking cessation, the clinical performance of artificial heart valves, cardiovascular adaptations to exercise, and drug use in sport. Dr. Pipe is currently involved in clinical research assessing new approaches to smoking cessation, strategies designed to facilitate exercise adoption, and novel initiatives to prevent cardiovascular disease.

Recognized as one of Canada's leading experts in cardiovascular disease prevention, physical activity and health, and smoking cessation, Dr. Pipe has addressed audiences in 28 nations and is frequently consulted on issues related to tobacco use and smoking cessation, drug use in sport, and physical activity and health. A former chairman of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada, Dr. Pipe is a Life Member of the Canadian Council on Smoking and Health.

In addition to his clinical responsibilities, Dr. Pipe has been extensively involved in sports and sport medicine for many years. He is currently President of the Commonwealth Games Association of Canada. Dr. Pipe served as the Chief Medical Officer to Canada's 1992 Summer Olympic Team in Barcelona and has been the Team Physician for Canada's National Men's Basketball Team since 1978. A member of the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, he served as Chair of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport from its inception until 2003.

Dr. Pipe is the recipient of the International Olympic Committee's Award for "Sport, Health and Wellbeing" and honourary degrees from Queen's University (LLD), Brock University (DSc) and University of Guelph (DSc). In 2002 he was named to the Order of Canada.

He is associate team physician of the New York Giants Football Team, and he also served as Team Physician for the 2004 U.S.A. Olympic Team.

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Abstract

Anti-doping: The challenge...and the opportunity

The abuse of drugs and other substances to enhance sport performance is not a new phenomenon. Nevertheless in the past thirty years the public and the sport community have become increasingly aware of the problems posed to the well-being of sport and of competitors by these practices. In the world of aquatics there is a unique opportunity to respond to the challenge posed by the doping phenomenon: the application of a 'best-practice' testing programme permits an optimal approach to deterrence and detection; the close relationship that traditionally exists between competitors, coaches and their clubs affords a particular opportunity for the creation of a sport culture in which doping is increasingly seen as a departure from the norm; the development and implementation of a 'licensing' programme for doctors and scientific support staff would allow a more rigorous approach to that minority misguided individuals who initiate and support doping practices - and who should be removed from sport. These approaches will be reviewed in the context of FINA's current anti-doping strategies.