Banned substance could have been in the blender, Shayna Jack told court

Shayna Jack believes the banned drug she tested positive for could have come from a contaminated blender used by her boyfriend or brothers.

Swimmer Shayna Jack supported by her mother Pauline after her positive test

Australian swimmer Shayna Jack believes the banned drug she tested positive for could have come from a contaminated blender used by her boyfriend or brothers.

But the swimmer says she may never know for sure how she ingested the substance.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport last week reduced Jack’s ban for testing positive to the drug ligandrol, finding she did not knowingly ingest the substance.

The court has now published its decision in the case, revealing that she suggested three possible sources for her positive test.

She told the court that the first possibility was that the supplements she was taking were contaminated in the manufacturing process. A second possibility was that the supplements were prepared in a blender used by her partner or brothers, which may have been contaminated with ligandrol.

The final possibility, Jack told the court, was that she came into contact with the substance while using a pool or gym open to the public in Townsville or Cairns while training for the world swimming championships in May and June last year.

However, the court said there was nothing to prove that any of these possibilities explained Jack’s positive test. “There is simply no evidence … that any of these speculative possibilities was in fact the reason for the presence of the prohibited substance in her system,” the court said in its findings.

None-the-less, the court’s sole arbitrator, Sydney QC Alan Sullivan, was impressed by Jack as a witness and applauded her refusal to blame anyone else for the fact she had tested positive.

“Even though it would have perhaps suited her case to blame others such as her partner or brothers for using supplements which contained the Prohibited Substance and which then caused an inadvertent contamination of supplements she was using, she refused to attribute such blame,” the court said. “She acknowledged that possibility, but said that it was her ‘gut’ feel that that was not the cause of the contamination.”

The court said Jack had “greatly impressed: the sole arbitrator.

“As stated, she was thoroughly but properly tested in cross-examination. But, in the sole arbitrator’s opinion, her credibility remained completely intact,” the court said. “Indeed, she was one of the most impressive witness the sole arbitrator has seen in his more than 40 years of practice.

“She appeared to be completely straightforward, genuine and honest in the answers she gave. Her demeanour was excellent and her dismay and upset at the situation she found herself was evident. She became emotional at times in giving her evidence but not inappropriately or theatrically so.

“The sole arbitrator could not detect any signs of acting or disingenuousness. On the contrary, as stated, the applicant presented as an honest, decent, reliable and very plausible witness.”

Olympic gold medallist Cate Campbell told the court that Jack was not the sort of person who would use a performance enhancing drug.

“In my years of knowing Shayna I have never witnessed any behaviour that would suggest she would knowingly take a prohibited substance,” Campbell said. “She has handled the highs and lows that sport offers with class and dignity and has always conducted herself with the utmost integrity.”

Campbell’s sister Bronte added: “In my role at the ASA (Australian Swimmers’ Association) I have been able to witness how Shayna shares this passion with the next generation of swimmers. Always generous with her time, she has participated in swim clinics and multiple meet and greets as a way of giving back to the sport.

“I know her to value integrity and have found her to be a person of her word … In all I have witnessed Shayna has always conducted herself with pride, honesty and fairness.”

The court said that overall, the sole arbitrator was persuaded, on the balance of probabilities, that the applicant did not intentionally ingest ligandrol.

Jack’s appeal was therefore partly upheld and her ban reduced to two years, dating from July 12 2019. She will be free to resume her swimming career in July next year, but not in time for the Tokyo Olympics.