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Vials of clear liquid intrigue swimming officials

Australia's anti-doping agency will conduct tests on a clear liquid found in a hotel hosting a number of teams attending the world swimming championships.

A small box containing vials of a clear liquid was found in a common room at Melbourne's Parkview Hotel on Tuesday. Police said small traces of illicit drugs were found in the box, but not in the vials.

The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) will use its powers to investigate the clear liquid in the vials, chief executive Richard Ings said.

Ings said the vials and paraphernalia had been collected from Victorian state police and were being sent to a World Anti-Doping Agency accredited laboratory in Sydney.

"We have asked the laboratory to expeditiously analyze the liquid and paraphernalia for any performance enhancing substances," Ings said.

"The Sydney lab is expected to begin testing the vials on Friday [today] and the tests would probably take a couple of days," Ings said.

The police investigation into the find has been closed, said police spokeswoman Stacey Mair, who added that police had received no contact from world swimming governing body FINA.

Ings said while the police did not establish a connection between the find and the world championships, ASADA's role is to investigate any possible links.

"ASADA was established to investigate exactly these types of matters ... to investigate if there has been a link doping violation," he said.

FINA officials at the swimming championships main venue, Rod Laver Arena, declined to comment yesterday on the ongoing ASADA investigation.

Police or hotel management would not confirm which teams are staying at the hotel.
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