Going to China for the Aquatics Championships? Don’t Eat the Pork…

Eating the local cuisine is one of the great perks for globe-trotting athletes. Except in the instance of this year’s FINA World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai. It seems that, because of instances where 2008 Summer Olympics athletes were sanctioned after eating locally-produced pork, this year’s FWAC (what a nice acronym! Aw, come on, say it…) participants are skipping any locally produced proteins.

Too much use of steroids to force-grow the meat, it seems.

Steroids such as clenbuterol, a performance-enhancing drug that drives muscle growth and fat elimination, are commonly used in China in pork and beef production. (I know I’m leaner and meaner when I get back from a long trip over there. Yeah. Really.) Dimitrij Ovtcharov, a ping-pong whacker from Germany, was nearly banned by the World Anti-Doping Organization  from playing internationally for two years after a visit in 2010 to a tourney in China. Polish canoeist Adam Seroczynski tested positive for steroids in 2008 at the Olympics, and has indeed been banned for two years. (He’s also banned from any future Olympics. Sad.)

So what’s the problem? Simply skip the meats, right?

Well, these high-horsepower athletes, men and women the likes of Michael Phelps, routinely consume 12,000 calories a day when training and competing. They can’t perform at peak without the energy-dense proteinoids they eat. This means the cooks have to bring along enough steroid-free vittles to feed their teams. Several meals a day. For several weeks, including the pre-event training.

I wonder: Can you check 40 chest freezers at a time on an airplane? And how do you carry them through Customs? Inquiring minds want to know…

If You Can’t Stand the Heat, Go Swimming in China…