Clean Sport

British Rowing believes in clean sport and works in partnership with UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) and our International Federation, World Rowing, to ensure the integrity of British Rowing is protected.

All rowers, regardless of age and level of competition, have the right to compete in sport knowing that they, and their competitors, are clean.  

The use of performance-enhancing drugs and other doping behaviour severely damages the legitimacy of sport and undermines the integrity of clean athletes.

All athletes, including those who are trialling, must ensure they have read the information on British Rowing's Clean Sport webpage to familiarise themselves with the rules, their role in clean sport and responsibilities.  Key reminders specific to athletes participating in trials or a performance programme are below.

Parents and Carers can find more information and a virtual booklet about Clean Sport on UK Anti-Doping's website.

Education

All athletes who are trialling or on a performance programme must complete Clean Sport education (iRowClean) every season.  Dates for upcoming sessions will be made available in due course.  Attendance at a Clean Sport session is compulsory and a condition of selection to represent GB. 

British Rowing's quarterly anti-doping bulletin is linked below.

Prohibited List 2022 and code 2021

The Prohibited List 2022 came into effect on 1 January 2022.  The Code 2021 published 1 January 2021 remains unchanged.

All athletes, coaches and team support are responsible for checking the list. More information is available on British Rowing's Clean Sport webpage and a summary of the major changes coming into effect can also be found on the World Anti-Doping Agency website.

The Prohibited List sets out whether certain substances or methods are prohibited ‘at-all-times’ or ‘in-competition only’.

For the purposes of the anti-doping rules, trial days are classed as ‘in-competition’.  Assessments are not, however if a substance is prohibited at all times, then this would include during assessments.

To find the current 2022 Prohibited List please click below.

In-Competition Periods and Trials

WADA define in-competition as “the period commencing 11.59pm on the day before a competition… through to the end of such competition and the sample-collection process related to such competition”. 

During the Selection Process, the trials between October and March are not considered competitions and are therefore classed as out-of-competition periods.

GBRT Trials (Senior, Para, U23 and U19) in April are Competitions for the purpose of the anti-doping rules and therefore are classed as in-competition. 

It is the responsibility of all athletes to make sure to account for the in-competition status of any medications they are taking and apply for a TUE where applicable as this must be in place before the April Trials.

Medicines

All athletes must check all medication before they take it on www.globaldro.com.  This includes medication that is prescribed, or medication bought in store/over the counter.  Global Drug Reference Online is a tool to determine if the medication you are considering is prohibited.  If you are taking a medication to treat a legitimate medical condition, please also refer to the information on Therapeutic Use Exemptions below.

Supplements

British Rowing advises against the arbitrary use of supplements, as there is no method to guarantee any supplement is free from banned or harmful substances.  Athletes are recommended in consultation with an expert to determine the need for any supplement, and then to ensure any product has been screened using sport.wetestyoutrust.com/.  Informed Sport is a means to reduce the risk of consuming a prohibited substance but is not a guarantee.

Junior Athletes and Supplements

British Rowing's Supplements Policy states that no Junior rower should be using any supplements without medical prescription; rowers under 18 years of age are advised to concentrate on learning and implementing good training, good diet and well-rehearsed recovery strategies.

British Rowing’s Supplement Policy is available by clicking the link below.

Testing

It is likely there will be Anti-Doping testing at GBRT assessments and trials.  Any rower can be tested at any time.

Rowers must familiarise themselves with the testing procedure here:

https://www.ukad.org.uk/athletes/introduction-testing

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, UK Anti-Doping have made modifications to the testing procedure to ensure athlete and doping control personnel are kept safe, and to reduce the spread of the virus.  An infographic explaining the changes is available here:

UK Anti-Doping Testing COVID-19 infographic

Where possible at assessments and trials, GBRT will endeavour to provide appropriate athlete support personnel to represent a rower outside the national squad at a doping control test.

Additional information: Para athletes

To support athletes with impairments, UK Anti-Doping have made modifications to the testing procedure.  Information about these modifications can be found here: https://www.ukad.org.uk/violations/testing-process-athletes-impairment

Additional information: Junior athletes

To protect the welfare of juniors, UK Anti-Doping have made modifications to the testing procedure.  Information about these modifications can be found here: https://www.ukad.org.uk/violations/testing-process-minors 

Therapeutic Use Exemptions

All rowers seeking selection or within the GB Squads are responsible for ensuring they have a valid TUE in place if required.

 If a rower requires medication that is prohibited, and there are no suitable alternative permitted medications, an application may be made for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE). 

Do I need a TUE?

The following athletes are part of UK Anti-Doping's National TUE Pool and are required to apply for a TUE in advance:

If you are included in the UKAD National TUE Pool or you are considered to be an International-Level Athlete by World Rowing this means that if you ever need to use a prohibited substance or method for therapeutic reasons, then you are required to apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) in advance of using the substance or method in question (unless there is an exceptional circumstance – please see UKAD website for these).

At the point that you are prescribed with any medication (or purchase any medication over-the-counter), you should check the anti-doping status of that medication on Global DRO.

If the medication or method of treatment is prohibited, then use the UKAD TUE Wizard to find out how and when to apply for a TUE. 

Please contact Jacqui.Traynor@britishrowing.org or UKAD at tue@ukad.org.uk should you have any questions relating to medications or TUEs.

We are also obliged to inform you that you would be at risk of incurring an anti-doping rule violation should you be subject to Doping Control without having first obtained a TUE (unless there is an exceptional circumstance for not doing so).

Rowers outside of the National TUE Pool who are seeking selection will only be able to apply for a TUE retroactively (after a positive test finding).  Therefore, it is important that rowers who have a genuine need for medication that is prohibited ensure they collect all the evidence they need in order to satisfy the conditions of a TUE application.  There is no guarantee it would be accepted so we recommend you contact cleansport@britishrowing.org for further guidance.

The following information is for you to be aware if you are, or become, an athlete in a GBRT Squad (Olympic and Paralympic Pathways).

The Registered Testing Pool

Any squad rower (Olympic and Paralympic Pathways) may be nominated for inclusion in a National or Domestic Registered Testing Pool.

All rowers named in a Registered Testing Pool are required to provide daily Whereabouts Information using an online system known as ADAMS.  This is a directive of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code and is non-negotiable.  Separate information on this is issued to all rowers concerned and support provided to them through GBRT and UK Anti-Doping to ensure compliance.

Athlete Biological Passport Scheme

Rowers within a Registered Testing Pool may also be nominated for inclusion within the Athlete Biological Passport Scheme.  The concept of this is the monitoring of selected biomarkers through a longitudinal series of blood and urine tests collected from an athlete (6 samples in a 12 month period provides the required baseline data) which enables individual limits for each biomarker to be established.  Biological tracing throughout an athlete's sporting career should make doping far harder to achieve undetected.  Again, separate information on this is issued to all rowers concerned.

Further Support & Information

For further support or information please contact Jacqui Traynor, British Rowing's Anti-Doping and Integrity Manager.

Please also use the links below for more information.

Photo credit: Peter Spurrier / Intersport Images