China hits out at disqualification of swimmers

China's Xiong Guoming, who recently returned from a two-year suspension for doping, found himself on the wrong side of the swimming authorities again yesterday at the East Asian Games.

This time, however, it was for technical reasons. Xiong was one of two Chinese swimmers disqualified from the heats for making illegal butterfly-type dolphin kicks.

He finished first in his heat for the men's 400 metres individual medley, but was disqualified after judges ruled that he made the illegal move while completing a turn during the breaststroke leg.

Female breaststroker Hao Ping, 14, was also disqualified for the same reason during her women's 200 metres breaststroke heat.

Chinese officials were upset by the disqualifications and said the judges were unable to provide a satisfactory reason for their rulings.

'We tried to find out the reasons why they were disqualified and when the infringements occurred, but no one could give us a specific answer,' said one Chinese official, who declined to be named.

'We didn't see our swimmers make any illegal strokes.' The 23-year-old Xiong played a starring role with four gold medals at the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima.

Later, he was one of seven Chinese swimmers who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

He served a two-year suspension before returning to competition at this year's World Cup short-course series.

Another swimmer who tested positive at Hiroshima and is competing in Pusan is Lu Bin . She also won four gold medals in 1994.

China have sent their second-string swimming squad to the East Asian Games, as most of their top swimmers are preparing for the All-China Games in Shanghai this September.

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