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Suspended swimmer Park Tae-hwan to resume training

May 27, 2015
Park Tae-hwan speaks to his coaching staff at a pool in Incheon, west of Seoul, on Sept. 19, 2014, while practicing for the 17th Incheon Asian Games, which open later in the day. (Yonhap)

Park Tae-hwan speaks to his coaching staff at a pool in Incheon, west of Seoul, on Sept. 19, 2014, while practicing for the 17th Incheon Asian Games, which open later in the day. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, May 27 (Yonhap) — Park Tae-hwan, Olympic swimming champ currently on a doping suspension, will resume training at a public pool in Seoul, officials said Wednesday.

Park will train with his old coach Roh Min-sang at the Olympic Swimming Pool starting June 1, the arena’s operators said.

In March, Park, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist in the men’s 400-meter freestyle, received an 18-month ban from FINA, the international swimming governing body, after testing positive for testosterone the previous fall.

Under FINA’s anti-doping policy, Park isn’t permitted to train at facilities operated by the government or the Korea Swimming Federation (KSF).

However, he is free to train on his own at other public pools, and the swimmer had been trying to join Roh’s class at the Olympic Swimming Pool since earlier this month.

Officials at the pool said parents of other swimmers in the class also agreed to allow Park to join their children.

Park also has three Olympic silver medals and two world championships to his credit. His suspension began retroactively on Sept. 3, 2014, when FINA collected his samples, and will end on March 2 next year.