Michael Brinegar, an Olympian from Columbus, Ind., did not race in Saturday’s heats of the 1,500-meter freestyle at the U.S. Olympic Trials because of a blood doping allegation, according to a social media post.
After he was cleared in 2023, he stated, the U.S. Anti-Doping appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The court ruled for USADA and against Brinegar.
“I am devastated that I cannot compete today due to CAS’s ruling based on flawed assumptions and a misinterpretation of facts,” his post said. “I will continue to seek justice in this matter and thank everyone for their support and understanding.”
Brinegar, 24, a former Indiana University swimmer, has often trained in California under coach Mark Schubert. He won one state title in the 500-yard freestyle for Columbus North but discontinued high school swimming after he was a freshman.
Brinegar was second in both 800 and 1,500 freestyles in the 2021 Olympic Trials at Omaha, Neb. He is the son of Jennifer Hooker Brinegar, who swam for the United States at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
“As an Olympian and son of an Olympic swimmer whose U.S. Women’s team faced an East German team that was systematically doping, cheating is a betrayal of everything I have been taught and stand for,” Brinegar wrote. “I am deeply disappointed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) ruling and USADA’s accusations that are utterly unfounded.”
Brinegar swam in heats of the 800 freestyle Monday. He finished 12th in 8:00.15 and did not qualify for the final.
Contact IndyStar correspondent David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Olympic swimmer Michael Brinegar gets USADA blood doping ban
