Catherine set to splash back

JAKARTA (JP): Disgraced junior swimmer Catherine Surya is set to splash back into the sport at the national Southeast Asian Games selection trials here this weekend, after receiving a drug- free certificate from an Australian laboratory.

The trials will be Catherine's first appearance in a national competition after being banned from competition for 18 months after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs last year. She has spent the past several months training in Australia.

"Catherine has improved in 200-meter butterfly during her Australian stint. She is still the best in that discipline," the swimmer's coach and father, Sumanas, said.

At the age of 13 the West Javanese swimmer became the world's youngest athlete ever to serve a ban for drug use. She was stripped of the bountiful gold medals and national records gained in the 1993 National Games. (amd)