Cameron van der Burgh's coach angry over China dope claims

26 May 2016 - 10:27 By TMG Digital

The former head coach of SA swimming‚ Dirk Lange‚ is threatening to sue over accusations that he is helping swimmers from China to dope ahead of the 2016 Rio Games. The Sunday Telegraph in Britain reported that some of the China’s top swimmers‚ including two who have previously tested positive for drugs‚ have moved their pre-Olympic camp to a “discreet location” in Turkey.The report said they were training in a programme run by “controversial German swim coach Dirk Lange”. It quoted another swim coach‚ Bill Sweetenham‚ questioning if China had chosen the venue to evade drug tests. In a statement posted on the Dirk Lange Personal Training GmbH page on Facebook on Wednesday‚ Lange hit out at the UK accusations.Lange said that as recently as May 19‚ the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) representatives were at the facility to take samples from the Chinese swim team.“The detection system is working (here) as much it is working everywhere. (It is) even more active in Turkey due to the unfortunate ideologies like this one.” He also said the "discreet location in Belek" is actually a five star training complex for multi sports located in Antalya‚ Turkey‚ which has hosted national soccer teams‚ the German swimming team‚ international basketball teams‚ as well as the Swedish and German Olympic teams.Lange also quoted a person in charge from the Chinese Swimming Federation‚ Mr Cui Dengrong‚ as stating they were shocked at the accusations‚ adding: “We believe the best response is to focus on training and show what we are capable to achieve”.The letter from Lange ends with a threat of legal action.Lange left SA for Germany after his contract was not renewed in 2008. He had been accused of being abusive towards swimmers but Cameron van der Burgh publicly defended him and he coached the Pretorian to his 100m breaststroke gold victory at the 2012 London Olympics...

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