Doping scandal: Shayna Jack says she will leave 'no stone unturned' in fight to clear name

Drug-tainted Australian swimmer Shayna Jack says she will fight, 'leaving no stone unturned', to get back in the pool after meeting with ASADA following her positive test to a banned substance. 

This time last month Shayna Jack was a 20-year-old swimmer preparing for the World Championships.

On Friday she was a news grab. Brisbane’s Market St turned into a media circus as a posse of six camera crews, five photographers, 11 reporters and numerous technical staff waited for over four-and-a-half hours as accused drug cheat Jack, her mother Pauline and lawyer Paul Horvath met representatives of the Australian Anti-Doping Agency.

When the trio finally descended from the 10th floor of the Servcorp building where ASADA had rented an office for the day, the hungry press pack was to be disappointed.

There was no money shot, no stunning revelations or admissions of guilt. Just confirmation that Jack’s fight to clear her name after testing positive to the banned substance Ligandrol would be a long and convoluted journey.

"We’ve started the process and I’m really happy with how everything is going," she told reporters.

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Shayna Jack addresses the media after her four-hour session at the ASADA hearing.

"I am not going to stop until I prove my innocence and fight to get myself back in the pool because that’s my dream and I’m never going to let that go."

Asked how the banned substance had got into her system she answered: "It’s still an ongoing investigation but we’re not going to leave any stone unturned."

Including, it seems, shoring up the support of Swimming Australia for the fight ahead.

"Swimming Australia has been nothing but supportive of me and we’ve been a unit through the whole process," she said, despite reports to the contrary.

"Every decision we’ve made has been together and we are very happy with every decision we have made."

It was then the turn of Horvath to play a straight bat that would have come in handy in Australia’s first innings at Edgbaston on Thursday night.

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Shayna Jack and her mother Pauline leave the briefing in Brisbane. Picture: AAP

Questioned over what defence he planned to mount when the process continues in four to six weeks he paused before answering, "We’re working through all avenues of investigation and we don’t want to play out our defence in the media."

Asked if he felt confident of success, the answer was a brisk, "No comment.”

Team Jack then headed to a waiting maxi taxi for a dignified exit that was in stark contrast to the chaotic scenes when they had arrived around 12 noon.

After a false alarm during which a white Audi pulled up outside the building and was surrounded by cameramen, only for two young ladies to climb out and disappear into a nearby restaurant, Jack and her support team rounded the corner and drove down the road in a Silver Service cab.

An exhausted Shayna Jack during the Australian Dolphins team training camp

The camera crews and reporters galloped after it but before they caught up it circled the block and parked on Charlotte St.

The media stampede wheeled around and like a herd of buffalos headed back up the road, one photographer falling over and narrowly avoided being trampled underfoot.

Jack, looking smart in a leather skirt, short boots and a grey shirt topped off with stony expression navigated her way into the building.

Not even a group of schoolchildren hanging over the railing at the nearby cathedral shouting, “Shayna, Shayna, we love you,” could bring a smile.And why would it?

One gets the impression it will be quite a while before Shayna Jack has anything to be happy about.

Mother and daughter after a difficult day. Picture: AAP

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