MEDIA RELEASE    

30 June 2011 

Sports Tribunal Suspends Swimmer for Anti-Doping Violation 

 

The Sports Tribunal has suspended swimmer, Blair Jacobs, for 12 months for an anti-doping 

violation.  Mr Jacobs tested positive for the prohibited substance 1-3 dimethylpentylamine, also 

known as methylhexaneamine, at the 2010 National Short Course Swimming Championships.    

 

Mr Jacobs admitted the violation and gave evidence that the violation was due to him taking 

two supplements “Jack3d” and “Super Pump” which he bought online. He did not investigate 

the ingredients of the products other than referring to their labels.  He believed they were 

energy drinks, containing caffeine and creatine, that would help him get over being tired from 

his job and give him energy to train.  He was aware of athletes in other sports who took Jack3d 

and assumed both products were safe to take.  At the hearing, he acknowledged that the 

ingredient lists for both products listed methlyhexaneamine but stated he had not been aware 

methlyhexaneamine was prohibited.   

 

Mr Jacobs had not been part of the swimming high performance programme and had not 

participated in any formal drug free education.  However, he acknowledged he was generally 

aware of the drug testing programme, Drug Free Sport’s services and the requirement not to 

take prohibited substances. He accepted he should have taken more care to fully research the 

ingredients in the supplements and to check whether he could legally take them.  

 

The Tribunal accepted, by a narrow margin, that he had established he had not intended to 

enhance sports performance but was focussed on overcoming work tiredness.  The Tribunal 

took into account in mitigation that: he was upfront in his declaration at the time of testing that 

he had been taking “Super Pump”; that the work factor which motivated him into taking the 

supplements was extraneous to his swimming activities; and that he admitted the violation and 

accepted he was wrong to rely on informal assurances rather than making a proper enquiry. 

 

The WADA Code and Sports Anti-Doping Rules place a high burden on athletes to be 

responsible for what they put in their body.  Some cases refer to a “duty of utmost caution” on 

athletes to avoid taking prohibited substances.  A competitor for a number of years at a 

national level like Mr Jacobs, even if not in the high performance squad, cannot avoid that 

fundamental obligation. The Tribunal thought this case was more serious than a previous 

Tribunal case involving methylhexaneamine, where a suspension of six months was imposed.  

In that case, the athlete made conscious attempts to identify the ambiguously labelled product 

ingredients and had sought assurance from the supplier.  Here Mr Jacobs took no meaningful 

steps to obtain assurance the products did not contain banned substances, other than his 

interpretation of the product label. 

 

The Tribunal suspended Mr Jacobs from participating in sport for 12 months commencing from 

14 December 2010 (the date of his provisional suspension).