WORLD SPORTS SCENE : Athletes Caught in Shifting Sands

Scott Friederichsen, a professional beach volleyball player studying for the California state bar examination, is learning how political sports can be.

Friederichsen of Dana Point and Mike Whitmarsh of San Diego were disciplined by FIVB, the international volleyball federation, for failing drug tests at an Olympic qualifying tournament in Hermosa Beach last July. They were given a three-month suspension and lost their prize money and points from the Olympic qualifier. Later, FIVB officials dropped the suspension, but many who follow drug testing and sports thought the penalty was harsh for a first-time offense of the stimulant pseudoephedrine. Standard penalties include education and counseling.

Friederichsen and Whitmarsh are in the process of appealing FIVB’s penalty. The deadline to return the prize money--$35,000 from two teams--is Dec. 11.

Many on the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals tour think the severe punishment had more to do with the rivalry between the AVP and FIVB.

AVP, which boasts the world’s best players, has feuded with FIVB about Olympic qualifying for the past year. FIVB officials wanted only its athletes to be eligible for next summer’s Olympics, when beach volleyball will be a medal sport for the first time.

“We’re caught in the middle,” said Friederichsen, who played at Long Beach State. “FIVB wants to discredit the AVP Tour. They are trying to take over all of beach volleyball.”

Pseudoephedrine, found in many over-the-counter cold medications and decongestants, is used by some athletes to give them a burst of energy.

Friederichsen said he and Whitmarsh, who are not doubles partners, ingested a food supplement, tri-chromaleane, which contained the banned substance. He was unaware that the supplement had pseudoephedrine because it was not listed among the ingredients on the bottle.

If the sanction stands, Whitmarsh might not qualify for the U.S. Olympic trials although he is considered a possible Olympic candidate. Friederichsen, 35, already has qualified for the trials but is not a realistic contender to reach Atlanta.

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Another case being contested involves Long Island swimmer Jessica Foschi, who received only probation after flunking a drug test for anabolic steroids at last summer’s national championships in Pasadena. The Foschis are filing an appeal today with U.S. Swimming’s board of directors challenging the results and asking that the probation be eliminated.

The action might have more to do with the fact that U.S. Swimming’s leadership appealed the probation and asked the board to sanction Foschi, 14, for two years, a standard penalty for first-time steroid use.

“Destroy the girl so you’re not embarrassed, that’s their [U.S. Swimming’s] creed,” said Bob Foschi, Jessica’s father.

At last weekend’s U.S. Open in Auburn, Ala., Foschi’s coach, Dave Ferris, said the Foschis want to test the urine sample themselves. The test was conducted by the International Olympic Committee-accredited laboratory at UCLA.

Ferris said the drug scandal has affected Foschi, an up-and-coming distance swimmer.

“The tension is building on her day to day,” he said, adding that his star swimmer has become paranoid.

“She will only eat food handed to her by her parents or me,” Ferris said. “She walks around in full sweats” worried someone might apply a topical cortisteroid on her skin.

U.S. Swimming is not expected to make a decision until the end of January.

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At the short-course world swimming championships in Rio de Janeiro, Franziska van Almsick of Germany, ranked No. 1 in the 100-meter freestyle, was disqualified for a false start, allowing world record-holder Jingyi Le of China to take the gold medal with a time of 53.23 seconds. Jingyi’s time was 0.22 seconds slower than her record set in 1993 at the last championships. China’s Na Chao was second, perhaps proving the Chinese women will be formidable opponents next summer in Atlanta even though they have suffered through a drug controversy of their own. Jingyi also won the 50 free.

After taking more than a second off the world record in the 200-meter breaststroke, Samantha Riley of Australia said: “When I touched the wall, it felt like heaven.”

World Scene Notes

Amanda Beard of Irvine had an impressive time in the 100-meter breaststroke at the U.S. Open in Auburn: 1 minute 9.84 seconds. It was the Irvine teen’s personal best and barely off Anita Nall’s age-group record. Beard defeated Belgium’s Brigitte Becue, ranked third in the world.

Rudy Galindo’s comment about the racial obstacles he faced in figure skating will not be inscribed on a sculpture honoring him and four other San Jose skaters. Galindo said the remark would have hurt his career had it appeared on the $493,000 public tribute to him and Brian Boitano, Peggy Fleming, Debi Thomas and Kristi Yamaguchi. Galindo, a two-time U.S. pairs champion with Yamaguchi, submitted a new statement last week, omitting the line, “It’s hard enough being a Mexican-American skater when the judges are looking for an all-American strong-boy.” . . . Fleming, 45, performing in the “Nutcracker on Ice” tour after a 30-year hiatus: “It’s sort of like riding a bike. A lot of people my age still can’t believe I’m doing this.”

Olympic organizers will cancel a 22-concert series in Atlanta after nixing a plan to have the private sector build a temporary amphitheater, pay for major-talent concerts and still give some of the profits to the Olympic cause. Sherman Day, managing director of physical legacy for the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, said it was an overly ambitious idea.