From the archives: Panel clears Jessica Foschi in steroids case

This story originally appeared in Newsday on April 9, 1996

Jessica Foschi, the 15-year-old swimmer from Old Brookville whose controversial steroid test brought worldwide attention and caused her family, in the words of her father, "to live a nightmare for the past eight months," has been cleared of all responsibility and freed of all sanctions by an independent arbitration board.

In a unanimous decision released yesterday, a three-member American Arbitration Association panel concluded that Foschi, her parents, her coach and "all those connected with her are innocent and without fault" regarding her positive test for the steroid mesterolone during the national championship meet in August. The panel ruled that a two-year probation imposed by U.S. Swimming, under which Foschi competed at last month's U.S. Olympic Trials, "violated fundamental fairness" and was "arbitrary and capricious." The panel further enjoined the sport's national governing body from taking any future action against Foschi based on that Aug. 4 test.

Foschi, the Friends Academy sophomore who swims for the Long Island Aquatic Club, placed fourth in the Trials' 800-meter freestyle, fifth in the 400 freestyle and ninth in the 200 freestyle. Only the top two finishers in each championship final qualified for this summer's Olympics in Atlanta, so Foschi's Olympic eligibility became a moot point.

But Robert Foschi, Jessica's father, continued to press the legal fight to restore his daughter's "well-deserved reputation," and the panel's findings accomplished that. A pending lawsuit filed in February in State Supreme Court against U.S. Swimming and the U.S. Olympic Committee, for violating due process in sanctioning Jessica, could be reviewed to seek damages.

Still, Robert Foschi said yesterday that "the final piece will fall into place only when we find out what happened" to cause the positive test in the first place. "That's very important to us. My resolve never has been greater than now to find out what indeed happened."

As early as October, the majority of a U.S. Swimming appeals panel accepted Foschi's contention that she never took steroids knowingly and raised the possibility that she could have been sabotaged. But U.S. Swimming's leadership, specifically president Carol Zaleski and executive director Ray Essick, argued that "intent" and "knowledge" were irrelevant in steroid cases and that international rules mandated a two-year ban for any positive test.

That hard-line stance triggered months of contentious legal wrangles between U.S. Swimming and the Foschis, as well as strong disagreements within U.S. Swimming's board of directors, which voted at one point to suspend Foschi, then reversed that decision 10 days later in favor of probation. The international swimming community saw political implications in the case because of U.S. Swimming's recent campaign to crack down on China for a series of positive steroid tests.

Robert Foschi had accused U.S. Swimming of being willing "to serve up the head of a 15-year-old to look good" to the rest of the world, and Foschi's coach, Dave Ferris, had said officials were practicing "chemical McCarthyism" in accepting test results over Foschi's claims of innocence.

"I think [an error in the] laboratory is as great a probability as anything" in explaining the positive drug test, Robert Foschi said yesterday, but to prove that, "we need help, and it hasn't been forthcoming from U.S. Swimming or the U.S. Olympic Committee."

U.S. Swimming's Zaleski called the Foschi case "an unfortunate situation for all involved."

"It is particularly disturbing that Ms. Foschi's family and lawyers have chosen to personally attack U.S. Swimming, its staff and volunteer leadership," she said in a statement. "U.S. Swimming has taken a consistent and principled stand. It has not attacked Jessica or her family and has been above board in all of its dealings with her. I am disappointed and distressed that Mr. Foschi has chosen to make unfounded accusations, mischaracterize the arbitration panel's decision, and call U.S. Swimming officials 'liars.' "

U.S. Swimming officials confirmed they will not pursue the matter, assuring that Foschi is eligible for all competitions within the United States.