SWIMMING-CRITICS SAY CHINA CLAMPING DOWN ON DRUGS

HONG KONG, March 31 (Reuters) - The international swimming community toned
down its rhetoric against China's record of doping scandals on Wednesday,
saying the Chinese may at last be mending their ways.

Ahead of this week's world short-course championships in Hong Kong, coaches
and anti-doping experts said Beijing appeared to be clamping down on use of
performance-enhancing drugs by their competitors, and calls to ban the
Chinese team from events have waned.

"It appears that the Chinese government has involved itself very strongly
in the last 12 months or longer to solve the problem. I think we're far
better off now," said John Leonard, director of The American Swimming
Coaches Association and a well-known China critic.

Leonard is part of a large international contingent at this meet, the last
such global swimming meet before the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The four-day
competition starts on Thursday.

Leonard told Reuters China's stance toward drug use was worlds apart from
1994, when he started a campaign to block Chinese swimmers from
international meets.

"I felt then that there were no controls and individuals in China were
abusing the system, with no penalty from their own federation or anyone
else," Leonard said.

Chinese swimmers dominated the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima but their
success was thrown into doubt when seven team members failed steroid tests.

The drug busts continued at the world championships in Perth in 1998 when
one Chinese swimmer was caught with growth hormones in her luggage and four
others failed steroid tests.

But Shi Pianshu, executive vice president of the Chinese Swimming
Association, said authorities now have stiff penalties for athletes,
coaches and swimming clubs to combat doping.

"We have put in place serious measures to stop, test and punish drug use,"
Shi told Reuters. "The maximum punishment is to ban coaches for life."

He added that China was testing some 600 of its registered swimmers each
year, both during and outside of competitions.

Determined to clean up the sport, the International Swimming Federation
(FINA) convened a special meeting on Wednesday to endorse stricter measures
to stamp out illegal drug use.

They included a four-year ban for first-time offenders and life-time
suspensions for second-time offenders.

China's swimmers were free of scandal during the Bangkok Asian Games in
December 1998 and calls to ban Chinese teams from international
competitions have waned, Leonard said.

Experts also said they had no concerns about a Beijing laboratory that has
been engaged to test urine samples for this week's Hong Kong event.

"The laboratory is accredited by the International Olympic Committee and
we've never had any problems with their determinations," said Allen
Richardson, chairman of the FINA Medical Committee.