Pressure is mounting on Swimming Australia as the governing body is scrutinised for the lack of transparency involving Shayna Jack’s doping scandal.

Whether Jack ingested a banned substance intentionally or unknowingly it appears that her career and her reputation are in tatters. Swimming Australia’s standing has been damaged too.

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Amid the turmoil, fresh accusations of another cover-up have re-emerged.

Members of the Australian Para swim team are allegedly misrepresenting their disabilities in order to compete against athletes who are more severely impaired.

Ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, members of the team are preparing for classification testing which assesses their disabilities and allows them to be categorised with athletes of a similar standing.

Often described as a murky process impacted by the pressure of tying funding to medal tallies, the alleged cheating and lies have prompted several athletes to speak out.

As a former member of the team, I witnessed intentional misrepresentation become not only accepted but expected. Throughout my career, I heard athletes casually mention how they had been thrown in the snow prior to classification so their muscles and joints were far stiffer than usual, or how they’d been instructed by someone higher up to “throw on a limp” during testing.

Others bound their limbs to restrict flexibility, strength and fine motor skills or pushed themselves to physical exhaustion just before the test in order to reduce stamina and power.

There were also athletes who had previously competed as able-bodied who borrowed a disability for classification.

‘TRAPPED WITHIN A CAGE OF LIES’

The most common was cerebral palsy. Some coaches allegedly train their athletes to move in a way that mimics the symptoms of the condition, for example by clenching a fist while swimming or kicking with a single leg.

A current Australian Paralympic swimmer, who wished to remain anonymous, described practices such as these as “very common”. “No one is not aware,” they said.

A former swimmer, who quit after becoming “fed-up with the scene”, described the culture within the sport as “suffocating”. “You can’t escape. You feel helpless,” he said.

A third athlete said para sport was an illusion. “(It makes out to be an) amazing inspiration, only (you) find yourself trapped within a cage of lies,” she said.

The swimmer also spoke of her feeling of helplessness, saying it was impossible to generate change or even speak out against the systemised deceit for fear of legal repercussions and the impact it would have on her own career.

Instead these athletes watch on as rivals compete against and beat legitimately-impaired athletes, break various records and claim taxpayer-funded grants, scholarships and sponsorships.

‘AS SERIOUS AS DOPING’

International Paralympic Committee senior public relations manager Rafael Maranhao described intentional misrepresentation as “a concern but not an issue”.

“The IPC is confident that the classification system is robust,” he said, via email.

The Australian Paralympic Committee took a sterner view, describing the issue as “fundamentally contrary to the spirit of Paralympic sport” placing it alongside doping as “among the most serious offences in the Paralympic movement”.

“Any suggestion that the APC has condoned cheating; has any knowledge of misconduct related to classification; or is involved in such misconduct, is refuted in the strongest possible terms,” an APC spokesman said.

“No substantive evidence has been uncovered in the eyes of the multiple organisations that have been contacted, including the IPC, APC, other national and international sporting bodies, government departments and the media — that have each investigated these allegations to varying degrees. Any new information received is always given due and immediate consideration.”

A Swimming Australia spokeswoman said the organisation supported the current classification process which is “devised and conducted by the International Paralympic Committee”.

“The thorough and extensive process is undertaken by an independent classification panel, that includes medical professionals and international classification experts,” the spokeswoman said. “Swimming Australia respects and abides by the rules set out by the IPC.”

HOW THE TESTS WORK

• Physical disabilities are ranked on a scale from S1, which contains the most disabled athletes (eg double arm and leg amputees, and very severe neurological conditions), through to S10, which holds the least impaired athletes (e.g. very minor neurological conditions, or minimal amputations).

• Classification has three steps: bench testing, water testing and observation during competition. Bench testing seeks to test co-ordination, measure range of movement and determine an individual’s level of weakness by region of the body. Water testing then assesses the athlete’s impairment while moving through the water. The final element of in-competition observation includes the classifying team making note of how the athlete moves while racing and their mobility around pool deck.

• Each athlete is assigned two classifiers: a medical classifier, who is qualified in a medical field, such as physiotherapy, and a technical classifier, who usually has no medical experience and is ultimately making judgment calls without any medical understanding of the athlete’s disability.

• The classification system is designed to identify athletes who are intentionally misrepresenting their level of disability in order to be placed within a category of physical impairment in which it would be easier to win medals.

Ashleigh Cockburn is a former member of the Australian Dolphins Para swimming team