The long trek from Florida to Lausanne

During those sunny Florida days it must have seemed like the dandiest of ideas. Michelle Smith (later to take the name de Bruin) was enjoying the full and thrilling benefit of the strength she had found since her new husband, Erik, had begun orchestrating the second phase of her career.

She was, as she told local journalist Sharon Robb, in the early stages of her taper for the Atlanta Games. As she wound down, everything seemed set. She had faxed the IASA on June 11th, 1996, indicating that she wanted to be entered in five events for the Games: the 100 metres and 200 metres butterfly, the 200 metres freestyle and the 200 metres and 400 metres medleys.

Then, on July 6th, for reasons not entirely clear, she swam a time trial 400 metres freestyle which was ultimately to change swimming history and to have a violent affect on the lives of at least two other swimmers. July 6th was a significant date. FINA rules stated that the final date for making qualifying times for the Games was July 5th. They would worry about that later.

The following evening, July 7th, Smith again faxed the IASA, noting that she "realise(d) the entries may already have been put forward to the OCI (Olympic Council of Ireland), but I would request that you submit my entry on the basis of my performance of 4:08:64 at Pine Crest here in Florida".

The note was accompanied by a printed time sheet which, oddly, was also dated July 7th and had no split times printed on it. The swim had taken place a day late and in circumstances which broke the rules in several ways. Smith freely admits in her book Gold that she was being coached from the bank by Erik as she swam. The pool the swim took place in was not fitted with the electronic pads required for an official timing. The time sheet was made up the following day. Nor was the meet officially sanctioned as a competitive event.

The IASA forwarded the entry to the OCI and the time (the best in four years) was registered with Nick Thierry of the International Swim Statisticians Association (ISSA).

Those events created a little nugget of precedent. The Pine Crest swim was the object of discussion the last time Michelle Smith came before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Michael Beloff, who finds himself presiding in Lausanne this morning, was part of that ad hoc CAS committee in Atlanta. He wrote afterwards of the application by the US, Germany and the Netherlands for a ruling on the lateness of Smith's application. He was unimpressed by their motive which, he said, was obviously "to eliminate a rival to the celebrated American swimmer Janet Evans". The panel decided that it did not "consider the flexible application of the rules creates unacceptable prejudice for other competitors".

The ramifications of that judgment are already well known. Smith, at 26, went on to become the oldest Olympic 400 metres freestyle champion. She was nine years older than the average age of the 10 previous winners. Evans finished ninth in the heats, thus failing by one place to qualify for the final, and at a memorable press conference afterwards she was asked about the topic that everyone in Atlanta was speaking about. Michelle Smith and doping.

It certainly wasn't the first time the questions had been aired in public, but Evans' prominence and abrasiveness, allied to the tension in the Georgia Tech Aquatic Centre, ensured that the story exploded, especially in the Irish media. Battle lines were drawn then which have never been rezoned.

ONE other person watching this had cause to wonder what was going on. Marion Madine grew up in swimming and had a fine career which ran almost parallel to Smith's pre-Erik career.

In 1992, Marion Madine was denied entry to the 200 metres butterfly in Barcelona because she had qualified for the event via a time trial in Toulouse in May. Indeed, Pat Hickey, who would represent Smith before CAS four years later, went on the record to this paper that it was IOC policy not to accept time trials.

If Madine was the victim then, she was to be a victim in 1996 as well. Smith's opportunism in entering the 400 metres freestyle late meant that Madine was bumped out of the event. Madine had met the B qualifying standard, and, given that Smith had never swum under 4:26:00 for the 400 metres freestyle in a career which included no international swims in the event, Madine had been entered for Atlanta and had been preparing as such.

Smith's insistence on entering the event with a dodgy qualification meant Madine got bumped out. It ruined her Olympics. She said later: "So, at a week's notice, I was then put in the 100 butterfly. Not surprisingly I had a pathetic race, because I had been training for the freestyle which is an entirely different discipline."

The Pine Crest swim has since been wiped off the records. Steve Roush, of USA Swimming, contacted Sean Gordon, honorary recorder of the IASA, as follows last summer:

"I have investigated the situation surrounding the alleged swim that you are inquiring about. Our local swimming committee in Florida Gold Coast has informed me that our rules were not adhered to when this swim took place and there are no records of a legal time being recorded. The official who was allegedly involved is no longer an official with the Florida committee."

Other correspondence to the IASA describes the swimming meet's sanction number as "phoney", and notes that the swim has been derecognised. The ISSA has done likewise.

In January of this year, Gordon, who has long sought to retain the IASA's integrity in the Smith farrago, wrote to the IASA expressing concern about the swim and suggested that Smith be asked for an explanation. He also suggested that other documents held by the IASA "indicating complaints against this swimmer by FINA should be inspected to indicate whether or not said complaints influence previous Irish records".

Meanwhile, neither Marion Madine or Janet Evans want to talk about 1996 anymore. They have moved on.

And the rest of us? We have fragments of the real story.

We know that in Atlanta Michelle Smith swam the ninth best 400 metres freestyle in history. We know that the events which began unfolding at a kiddies summer camp in Florida led to the poignant end to Marion Madine's fine career and eventually to the spilt secrets of the poolside at a Janet Evans press conference.

And this morning, as it all finds a bitter end in a small courtroom in Lausanne, we can be sure that Evans and Madine are happier and more fulfilled people. But during those sunny Florida days . . .