FISA, the International Rowing Federation, announced today that three rowers from the Russian national team were found to have committed illegal performance-enhancing practices during the 2007 World Rowing Championships last summer. The three oarsmen, Alexander Litvintchev, Evgeny Luzyanin and Ivan Podshivalov, all rowed on Russia’s men’s eight. This case follows a similar announcement made last summer when two members of Russia’s men’s lightweight double and one member of Russia’s women’s eight were suspended. The verdict of all six cases come after DNA analysis showed a match between the athlete’s blood and blood found on intravenous infusion paraphernalia discovered in the trash by a resident outside the team’s hotel in Lucerne. FISA cited difficulty in “obtaining blood samples from all members of the Russian team,” and the “time needed for matching DNA analyses” as the cause of the delay.

Unlike the doping at the 2007 Tour de France, where five riders were dismissed amid controversy for consuming illegal substances, all six cases of doping by Russian rowers involved an illegal practice: intravenous infusion. This is more commonly known as being on an “I.V. drip” or “intermittent infusion,” and is used to reduce dehydration, reverse electrolyte imbalance, deliver medicine, or for blood transfusion. In this case, the substance delivered via I.V. was Esofosfina, a fructose substance produced by BioMedica Inc. While the Russian team claimed that “acute dehydration and convulsions” were the reason behind the use of I.V. infusion, the FISA Anti-Doping Hearing Panel concluded that this reason was not legitimate and that the team’s hotel room in Lucerne was certainly not “an appropriate medical setting.”

As a result of FISA’s decision, all six rowers are banned from international competition until August 27th 2009. Furthermore, the Russian men’s eight lost its qualification to the Olympic games in Beijing later this summer. That qualifying spot was given to Australia, the next highest finisher. The United States’ men’s eight also qualified for the Olympics in the same race in Munich, finishing one place and 0.34 seconds ahead of the Russian eight. The remaining five rowers and coxswain of the Russian men’s eight are still allowed to race, and the Russian team can still qualify the eight in the single remaining spot at the Rowing World Cup in Poznan, Poland in June 2008.

While some feel that the two-year ban on the involved rowers, disqualification of boats and a permanent scar on the Russian team’s reputation is enough of a punishment, some feel that the multiple offenses merit greater penalties to curtail further doping and prevent the problems that plagued last year’s Tour de France from entering the rowing world. Share your opinion on the matter on the new Exeter Crew forums!

Photo from Row2k. Additional information from WorldRowing Results Database and the Doping Panel’s Official Statement.

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Though it’s been quite a while since the site was last updated, the rowing world is preparing for another exciting spring season. Also, a discussion board is now active at http://exetercrew.com/forum/index.php.

Both the Boys and Girls Varsity teams will devote a week of their spring break this March to honing their technique and improving their fitness as another racing season approaches. By the time the crews get back to Exeter on March 24th, the Squamscott River will hopefully be clear of ice so practices may begin in preparation for their first race on April 19th. Girl’s co-captain Allison Courtin ’08 said that “All the girls are really excited and optimistic, especially since this is the first spring training trip we’ve had in a few years.” Courtin also noted that “the entire team is going to be very competitive this year, from first to sixth boat.” Boy’s co-captain Ian Winthrop ’08 said that “the particularly strong senior class this year combined with a competitive group of younger oarsmen should continue the trend of fast varsity boats.” Co-captain Tim Moore ’08 also noted that “three of the seniors are returning to row on the first boat, and with Vaughan Coder back from an injury last spring along with Chris Jones and Andrew Safir from the second boat I think that the seniors will push this year’s crews to compete at the highest level.” Boys head coach Lawrence Smith also mentioned that with an additional coach coming on board, both sides of the boathouse will have more flexibility to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of practices.

2008 is also an Olympic year, and two Exonians are getting ready to row in Beijing this summer. Sloan DuRoss ’95 and Deaglan McEachern ’01, who qualified the United States in the Men’s Quadruple Sculls event at the Rowing World Championships last summer in Munich, are training to race for Olympic gold.

On the other side of the country, a bad thunderstorm turned into a disaster when a tornado hit the Vancouver Lake Crew boathouse in Vancouver, Washington. According to the news report released by the club, the tornado “lifted the club’s two buildings off of the ground and scattered them over 300 feet away completely destroying the contents. All 18 training ergs were destroyed along with all the equipment and supplies. Out of the approximately 50 shells stored at the site only 3 survived the falling trees and blowing debris. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment has been destroyed.” Fortunately, no one was inside when the tornado struck. While cleanup is underway, the non-profit club is seeking donations to help rebuild their boathouse and replace their devastated fleet of shells. For more information, visit the Vancouver Lake Crew website here.

Lastly, the CRASH-B Sprints World Indoor Rowing Championships are barely a month away. Registration for the February 24th event at the Agganis Arena in Boston ends February 10th. A number of Exonians are slated to race the 2000 meter “sprint” as their first erg test before pre-season starts in mid-March.

Photos courtesy of The Boston Globe and Row2k.

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