Swimming: Swimmer defended

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Australian head coach Don Talbot hit out against the mistrust engendered by doping abuse yesterday after world champion Ian Thorpe became the latest top swimmer to have his achievements questioned.

German men's team coach Manfred Thiesmann said fellow coaches had raised suspicion about Thorpe when the 17-year-old Australian, the youngest men's world champion in swimming history, broke his own 200m freestyle world shortcourse record at a World Cup meeting in Sydney in January.

Talbot said: "It's an undeniable fact that we've got to have a fool-proof system. It's up to the IOC and Fina to do something about it. They've got to start taking blood. It's the only way to be sure if someone is cheating or not.''