FAQs: Performance-Enhancing Drugs and USMS Competition
U.S. Masters Swimming condemns the use of performance-enhancing drugs to gain an unfair advantage in its competitions. USMS is committed to fair competition and to the health and well-being of its members. You can read more in USMS's position statement.
These FAQs explain USMS’s position, how World Aquatics anti-doping rules relate to Masters swimming, and what members who take medication should know.
1. What is USMS’s position on performance-enhancing drugs?
USMS condemns the use of performance-enhancing drugs to gain an unfair competitive advantage. Members are expected to compete fairly and to comply with the rules that apply to them, including the applicable rules and Bureau decisions of World Aquatics, as required by Article 402.2 of the USMS Rule Book.
USMS also believes that no member should compromise their health to compete.
2. Does USMS test its members for performance-enhancing drugs?
No. World Aquatics does not require drug testing for Masters world records (Competition Regulations, Part Eight, Article 2.6.4.3), and its anti-doping rules exclude Masters competitions from the criteria that place swimmers in its international testing pools. Consistent with that approach, USMS does not conduct drug testing.
3. Why doesn’t USMS test?
USMS has reviewed this question with volunteer leaders, staff, and medical advisors, and has reached the same conclusion throughout its history. Records and Top 10 times can be earned at any of the roughly 400 meets USMS sanctions each year. A fair testing program would need trained sample-collection staff at every one of those meets, medical oversight, a process for reviewing therapeutic use exemptions, and safeguards for members’ private health information. Those costs would fall on an organization that relies on volunteers and serves adults who swim mainly for health and fitness.
Testing would also put members’ ordinary medical care under review. Many members take medications for common conditions, and some of those medications contain substances on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.
4. I take medication, prescribed or over the counter. What should I do?
Take care of your health first. No member should stop, skip, or change a medication their healthcare professional recommends, or avoid an over-the-counter medicine they need because of concerns about competition.
5. Do World Aquatics anti-doping rules apply to me?
USMS is affiliated with World Aquatics through United States Aquatic Sports, the U.S. member federation of World Aquatics. Article 402.2 of the USMS Rule Book requires members to comply with applicable World Aquatics rules and Bureau decisions.
Masters swimmers are not in World Aquatics’ international testing pools, and testing is not required for Masters world records. Although unlikely, anti-doping organizations may test at Masters competitions under their authority.
6. Do I need a therapeutic use exemption?
Masters swimmers are not required to obtain a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) in advance to compete in USMS events. In the unlikely event you are tested at an event that conducts doping control, anti-doping rules allow swimmers who are not national- or international-level athletes to apply for a TUE after the test. If you have questions about a specific medication and an upcoming event, talk with your healthcare provider.
7. Can a member serving an anti-doping suspension compete in USMS events?
No. A member serving a period of ineligibility for an anti-doping rule violation under the World Anti-Doping Code is not eligible to compete in USMS-sanctioned events during that period.
8. Who decides whether a swim counts for a record or other recognition?
USMS and World Aquatics run separate recognition programs. USMS records, Top 10 rankings, and All-American recognition are governed by the USMS Rule Book and USMS policies. World Aquatics sets the requirements for Masters world records and its Masters Top 10 rankings. When a USMS member swims a time that qualifies for World Aquatics recognition, USMS submits the result through the established process, and World Aquatics applies its own rules in deciding whether to recognize it.
9. Who can I contact with questions or comments?
USMS welcomes questions and comments from members about its position on performance-enhancing drugs and eligibility for USMS competitions. Please send them to eligibility@usmastersswimming.org.
