Jessica Hardy finishes second in first swim race since being banned

Hardy finishes second in return

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — Jessica Hardy has always known how to swim. Now she has to figure out how to win again.

For the past year, Hardy has been dealing with the heartbreak of being denied her dream of competing in the Olympics because of a failed drug test. Her one-year ban ended July 29.

On Wednesday, she competed at the U.S. Open National Championships, finishing second in the 100-meter freestyle.

“I haven’t raced in a year. I feel like I don’t even know what I’m doing. It’s very frustrating,” said Hardy, who finished in 55.07 seconds.

Erika Erndl of Naples, Fla., won the race in a meet-record 54.59.

“This is the first of many races to come. I made a lot of mistakes,” she said. “I have a lot of stuff to improve, but I’m getting more comfortable and back to where I was last year. For me, I just need to mentally get back. For me, it’s a mental rebirth, regrowth.”

Leading up to the Olympic Trials in July last year, Hardy, 22, had been taking a powdered supplement that she mixed in water called Arginine Extreme. It was made by Advocare International.

Hardy’s “A” sample and “B” sample from a July 4, 2008, test both came back positive for a low level of clenbuterol, a prohibited anabolic agent. She withdrew from the U.S. Olympic team in August. She missed the Beijing Games and received a two-year ban.

“I had been taking it for a year and a half and never tested positive before,” she said. “It was one of those rare things, like finding a needle in haystack . The needle was in the haystack and it poked me.”

In May, the American Arbitration Association found the failed test was caused by a contaminated nutritional supplement and requested that Hardy not lose her eligibility for the 2012 London Olympics.

The World Anti-Doping Agency and FINA, swimming’s governing body, have not agreed with that decision. They have appealed to the Court for Arbitration of Sport, and they want her ineligible for the 2012 Olympics, based on International Olympic Committee rules that athletes are barred from the next games if they incur a doping ban of at least six months.

Hardy hopes the CAS will rule by the end of the year.

“I was the only one (in the world) to be banned from two Olympics,” said Hardy, who continued to train with her hometown team in Long Beach State University.

Hardy, who once held the world record in the 100 breaststroke and won four NCAA championships, said during her year off she never fell out of shape but is not race-ready yet. She said “it’s almost a different sport when you’re racing.”

“I heard people cheering again warming up, I remember how nervous you feel. Every detail is new again,” she added. “It’s distracting and overwhelming. But I’ll figure it out.”

She will also swim in the 100 breaststroke Friday and the 50 free on Saturday.