Stanford University swimmer Isabel Gormley has been given a one-year sanction for committing three Whereabouts Failures within a 12-month period, USADA has announced.
The sanction was first given on April 19, 2022.
Within a 12-month period, Gormley accrued three Whereabouts Failures, the first for a Filing Failure on September 11, 2021; the second for a Missed Test on October 24, 2021; and the third for a Missed Test on December 12, 2021.
Gormley is one of at least two NCAA Division I swimmers who are currently suspended by a non-NCAA anti-doping authority. The NCAA is not a signatory of the World Anti-Doping Code, and therefore these suspensions are not mandatorily applied to collegiate competition — although that could potentially change soon.
Gormley’s one-year period of ineligibility began on March 22, 2022, the date her provisional suspension was imposed. In addition, Gormley has been disqualified from all competitive results achieved on and subsequent to December 12, 2021, the date of her third Whereabouts Failure in a 12-month period, including forfeiture of any medals, points, and prizes.
Gormley’s last meet was the 2022 Pac-12 Championships, where her only points came from a C-Final swim in the 400 IM.
In 2021, Gormley was an NCAA Championship qualifier as a freshman. There, she swam in the 500 free (38th), 1650 free (29th) and 400 IM (39th). That year, she also placed 3rd in the 1650 free at the Pac-12 Championships, as well as 5th in the 500 free and 400 IM.
In 2019, Gormley was a member of the US Junior National Team and raced as part of an invited group at the Mel Zajac Jr. International meet and the 2019 World Junior Swimming Championships. There, she won a silver medal in the 400 IM in a time of 4:39.15.
SwimSwam only found collegiate meet results for Gormley during the period where results are forfeited, so while that means those times can’t officially be included in USA Swimming records, there are no placements or other awards to reallocate as a result of the penalty.
“Accurate Whereabouts information is crucial for effective out-of-competition testing, which helps deter and detect doping by enabling no-notice sample collection,” USADA said in a press release. “This is especially important because some prohibited substances have limited detection windows.”
The sanction is consistent with recent punishments for similar violations, aside from Ruta Meilutyte‘s two-year suspension by FINA in 2019 for missing three anti-doping tests.
Stanford declined to comment, and attempts to reach Gormley were unsuccessful.
first one was for partying during covid so slightly different from the second two.
I know this sounds rude, but given the circumstances and the way she performed this year, I’m getting the feeling that there’s something that we don’t know.
I was kind of thinking the same thing. None of my business though
For people who are not aware, the whole whereabouts part is not as cut and dry as you might think. One person I knew got tested in the middle of a midterm, another missed the test because they were next door at a friends house. I took a national team member on vacation with my family who is very relaxed and I remember it being very stressful… for any given hour we could have been in three different parts of the state, should he have been tested during that 5 day period, there was a good chance of him being at the wrong location.
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You would think at a minimum they could send a txt to the swimmers cell phone if they knock at their door and don’t get a response.
Right like a notification saying were coming in 30 would help.
Nope, that allows the athlete to dodge the test if they’re glowing. There should be no warnings for tests.
yep or punch down 2-3L of water – red blood cells look completely different
I think you might be misrepresenting the whereabout system a bit.
You can only earn a whereabouts failure when testers can’t find you during your 1 hour timeslot each day which is at a time and location of the athletes choosing. Athletes are free to go and do whatever they want outside that timeslot and if testers come looking for them outside that timeslot and can’t find them it doesn’t earn a whereabouts failure.
You make it seem like if testers can’t find an athlete at any time 24/7 they’d earn a whereabouts failure and this is not true at all.
I think their post is very clear. You better plan your day around being in a specific spot a certain hour and can’t do anything spontaneous or change plans or take a walk in that hour. I agree that would be stressful and frustrating…but it is also what the athletes sign up for to be in the system and makes me wonder if many conclude it isn’t worth it to be in the system if you are a very fringe international level candidate.
it’s giving ruta meilutyte
Three! How do you miss three? One, yeah we sometimes forget to let USADA know where we are. Two, you are likely just a little irresponsible. Three, you either don’t care or have something to hide.
You say that like you get tested by USADA 🤡
Where was the podcast with Greg Meehan on this topic?
Nailed it.
You won internet today
good..this needs to be taken seriously.