By Phillip Whitten
STANFORD, Calif., July 30. SMALL patches worn by six Stanford women swimmers at the Olympic Trials in Long Beach earlier this month, aroused so much suspicion among other swimmers and coaches that USA Swimming officials have sent samples to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for testing.
The six swimmers are Tara and Dana Kirk, both of whom made the Olympic team, plus Lacey Boutwell, Lauaren Costella, Ashley Daly and Kirsten Gilbert.
The story was first reported in today's San Francisco Chronicle by
staff writer Ron Kroichick.
The Trials were not the first time the Stanford swimmers wore the patches. They also used them at the NCAA Chaampionships in March.
David Schmidt, president of the company that makes the LifeWave Energy Enhancer, said the patches, worn on the swimmers' shoulders, contain only amino acids and water-based solutions. According to Schmidt, the patches are designed to stimulate acupuncture points electronically, inserting current into the body to help an athlete improve stamina. No substances enter the body, he claimed.
Schmiddt dismissed as "ridiculous" charges by one unnamed coach that the patches contained testosterone.
USA Swimming spokeswoman Mary Wagner confirmed that National Team Director Everett Uchiyama asked Stanford women's coach Richard Quick for samples. Those samples were then sent to the USADA for testing, Wagner said.
Quick, a three-time Olympic head coach who will serve as an assistant for the U.S. women's team in Athens, defended the patches as a new training device he began using earlier this year. Quick said it was "not a concern at all" that the samples were sent to USADA.
"We're not trying to hide anything, because it was out there in broad daylight," Quick said.