Chinese Swimmers Strong; FINA Wants to Know Why

At the same time China was dominating the opening of a FINA World Cup short-course swimming competition at Beijing, the world swimming body announced it will hold a special meeting to toughen anti-drug measures.

Camillo Cametti, chairman of FINA’s press commission, said Wednesday the session would be held after a FINA task force on doping meets March 5-6, in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The announcement comes after an uproar over four Chinese swimmers who tested positive for triamterene, a banned diuretic that masks the use of anabolic steroids, at the world championships last month in Perth, Australia.

A Chinese swimmer and a coach also were punished for bringing a banned human growth hormone into Australia.

The announcement did not slow the Chinese swimmers Wednesday. China took six of 17 golds medals, as well as eight silver and eight bronze. Germany won four golds, one silver and two bronze.

Germany’s Sandra Voelker won the 50-meter backstroke and 50-meter freestyle and Russian world-record holder Alexander Popov overtook the field in the final 50 meters to win the men’s 100 freestyle in 48.99.

Football

Keith Byars, one of the best receiving running backs in NFL history, signed with the New York Jets. The Jets also signed former Chicago Bear offensive lineman Todd Burger . . . The Pittsburgh Steelers signed former Minnesota Viking cornerback Dewayne Washington to a four-year deal worth nearly $8.8 million. . . . The New England Patriots signed former Bear fullback Tony Carter to a three-year, $2.7-million contract. The deal includes an $800,000 signing bonus.

Darrell Dickey, offensive coordinator at Southern Methodist who helped the Mustangs to their first winning seasons in 11 years, was hired as coach at North Texas.

Leslie Shepherd, who led the Washington Redskins in receiving yards and touchdown catches last season, was arrested and charged with assaulting a man after a Mardi Gras party in Washington.

Shepherd, 28, was charged with simple assault and released on his own recognizance.

Tennis

Second-seeded Iva Majoli of Croatia trounced Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria, 6-1, 6-1, in the second round of the $450,000 Austrian Open at Linz. Italian Silvia Farina ousted Karin Kschwendt, 7-5, 6-4, and in a first-round match, eighth-seeded Russian teenager Anna Kournikova eliminated Silvia Plischke, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.

Fourth-seeded Greg Rusedski of Britain squandered two match points and lost, 5-7, 7-5, 6-4, to Germany’s Marc Goellner in the first round of the ATP Guardian Direct Cup at London. Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia, another big-serving left-hander, also lost. He served 11 double faults in a 6-2, 6-4 defeat to South Africa’s Wayne Ferreira in the second round.

Third-seeded Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov moved into the quarterfinals by defeating Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-4.

Eighth-seeded Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands defeated Russian wild card Marat Safin, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-1), to advance to the quarterfinals of the Advanta Championships in Philadelphia. He will face top-ranked Pete Sampras, who struggled to defeat Andrea Gaudenzi of Italy, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3. Jim Courier, trying to bounce back from a prolonged losing streak and an arm injury, won his first match since the middle of October, 6-7 (8-6), 6-4, 6-4, over Christian Ruud.

Miscellany

The Galaxy and Aguila played to a 0-0 tie in San Miguel, El Salvador in an international soccer game that was called after 70 minutes by a power outage at sold-out Juan Francisco Barraza stadium. The Galaxy flies to Guatemala today to continue its Central American tour.

World 100-meter champion Maurice Greene said a strong head wind was the only reason he failed to break Donovan Bailey’s world record at the Melbourne Grand Prix track meet in Australia. Greene clocked 10.06 seconds to beat a quality field including Bailey, Canada’s Olympic champion.

Joe Alleva, Duke’s associate athletic director since 1987, was promoted to athletic director. Alleva succeeds Tom Butters, who announced in September he would retire by June.

After 28 years as Oregon’s wrestling coach, Ron Finley, 58, will step down after this season.