Flynn Southam On Chinese Doping Scandal: “I Guess It Is Fuel To The Fire”

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

Australian freestyler Flynn Southam is the latest elite swimmer to comment on the Chinese doping scandal that sent shockwaves around the sport earlier this month.

Southam, 18, said the case will add motivation to the Australian contingent at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but they also won’t get caught up in putting too much focus on something that’s entirely out of their control.

“Yeah, there were a few things going around, mainly just athletes talking with other athletes and comparing notes on how it made us feel,” Southam said, according to Reuters.

“I guess it is fuel to the fire, but at the same time we are not going to get caught up in the narratives of anyone else.

“We are just there to do our job and our job is to do the best we can and capitalize on the support we get from the Australian public.”

On April 19, word broke that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for trimetazidine (TMZ) in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympics, but were cleared to compete by Chinese anti-doping authorities (CHINADA) who attributed the positive tests to contamination.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted the explanation at the time, though the organization is set to launch an independent investigation.

“There’s two sides to it, you’ve got to block it out because it is not in your control,” said Southam.

“But at the same time it is a bit infuriating when I give my address and my whereabouts every day for an hour a day to get drug tested from doping agencies and when something like that comes up it really makes you question why we are even doing that.

“I am all about clean sport, fair sport. I don’t think that cheating aligns with the ethics and morals of the Olympics.”

After rising through the ranks as an elite junior swimmer, Southam has started to make a name for himself on the senior international stage for Australia in recent years, winning a combined eight relay medals in 2022 between the Commonwealth Games and Short Course World Championships.

In 2023, he won gold as a member of the Australian men’s 400 free relay at the World Championships in Fukuoka, swimming in the final, and also won two medals as a prelim swimmer on the mixed 400 free relay (gold) and men’s 4×200 free relay (bronze) while placing 11th individually in the 100 free.

Two months later, he won five medals at the 2023 World Junior Championships, including gold in the 200 free.

A number of others have publicly reacted to the Chinese scandal, including Brits, Americans and the German and Canadian federations.

SwimSwam: Flynn Southam On Chinese Doping Scandal: “I Guess It Is Fuel To The Fire”