Swimming: Bray drug case in court again

Lawyers for New Zealand swimmer Trent Bray were back in court yesterday attempting to stave off a move by the Sports Drug Agency to defend its drug-testing procedures.

The agency has gone to the High Court to appeal against a decision by a district court judge who ruled in March that a positive test for the banned steroid nandrolone in Bray's urine was out of order.

New Zealand Swimming lifted a swimming ban on Bray as a result of the ruling although the world swimming body, Fina, has suspended him. Bray, aged 26, a Commonwealth Games silver medallist, has so far failed to qualify for the Olympics.

Before a Full Bench of the High Court at Auckland yesterday, lawyers and judges wrestled with plastic containers of the kind used for urine samples gathered by the Sports Drug Agency.

On November 22 last year, Bray gave urine samples which were sent to a Sydney laboratory for analysis. The frozen samples thawed while in quarantine at Sydney Airport, were not delivered to the lab for 17 days, were refrozen and not analysed as positive until January.

Bray has strenuously denied taking the steroid and there has been no evidence the samples were tampered with.

In the Auckland District Court, Judge Roderick Joyce, QC, found the containers used in part of the testing process were incorrect and that the time taken for the testing in Sydney was too long.

Argument in the High Court yesterday revolved around the interpretation of regulations governing the process of collecting samples and sealing them inside plastic containers.

John Katz, QC, for the agency, said Judge Joyce erred both in his interpretation of the regulations and in his finding that the time delay in analysing the samples did not conform to the regulations.

The Sports Drug Agency has said the district court finding has restricted its ability to test athletes.

The case is expected to end today.