Anti-doping and sailing, what you need to know (so you don’t end up like Sinner)

Sailors, watch out for the ‘”Sinner risk!” World Sailing, the world sailing federation, has issued a statement urging practitioners, coaches, medical personnel and all “interested parties” to pay close attention to the new World Anti-Doping Code rules that will go into effect Jan. 1, 2025. Screw loose on anti-asthmatics and substances against hypertension and Adhd, but watch out for diuretics…

Anti-doping and sailing, what changes

Among the most important changes are:

• increase in the maximum use of inhaled formoterol, a substance found in asthma sprays, for which there is a cap of 54 micrograms over 24 hours with a maximum of 35 micrograms in a 12-hour period;
• possibility of donating blood through apheresis, a procedure that allows us to donate only certain components of our body fluid such as plasma and platelets, provided it is performed in an accredited center;
• deletion of guanfacine, a substance commonly used to treat hypertension and Adhd (attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder), from the drugs banned in “Section 6 Stimulants.”
• Introduction of the diuretic Xipamide as a prohibited substance-masking agent.

“WorldSailing,” Urvasi Naidoo, Director of Legal & Governance of the World Sailing Federation, said in this regard. remains firmly committed to ensuring that competitions are clean and fair for all. The new list clarifies the parameters for various substances and the control methods, and we remind all stakeholders that it is their sole responsibility to ensure that they are aware of the changes and comply with the new directives“.

If they find you positive, it is only your fault

Indeed, the statement points out that anti-doping operates on the principle of “strict liability,” meaning that the individual is always responsible for any banned substance, whether it is used, attempted to be used, or found on his or her team, regardless of how it got there or whether there was any intent to cheat.

Not knowing is therefore no excuse, as tennis champion Jannik Sinner, who went on trial this year for accidentally coming into contact with clostebol, a banned substance, learned to his cost. In fact, a physical therapist on his staff was using a spray or ointment containing the substance to treat a (his) injury, and during the massages, clostebol was transferred to Sinner’s skin, contaminating it.

The precedent in Olympic sailing

Also betrayed by Clostebol, which is present in several healing ointments, in 2016 was sailor Roberta Caputo, who was disqualified following a checkup at a regatta in Naples because she was found positive (she had used an ointment to treat pimples). She had to forfeit the Rio de Janeiro Olympics (where she was supposed to race in the 470 paired with Alice Sinno) due to naivety.

The list of substances banned by Wada, the world anti-doping agency, is available on this website:

• https://www.wada-ama.org/en/prohibited-list

Fabrizio Coccia