Friday, 28 February 2020:
 | | Head Coach JACCO VERHAEREN speaks during an Australian Swimming team media opportunity at Griffith University in Gold Coast, Australia. | |
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The outcome of Chinese swimmer Sun Yang's doping case will barely cause a ripple in Australia's swim team, head coach Jacco Verhaeren says.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will on Friday night release its verdict on whether Sun, a three-time Olympic freestyle champion, broke doping rules.
Australian swimmer Mack Horton infamously refused to step on the podium with Sun at last year's world titles.
But Verhaeren says whether Sun was cleared to compete at this year's Tokyo Olympics or banned from the event won't impact Horton or his teammates.
"Mack is a very focused athlete, he's not easily distracted and he won't be distracted by this either," Verhaeren said on Friday.
"He has dealt with situations like this before and never gets distracted so he won't be in this case.
"He made his stance. His stance won't change and that is fine.
"But we're not in the business of commenting on foreign athletes or whatever the outcome is."
Sun, who Horton also criticised at the Rio Olympics, had admitted breaking vials containing his blood samples at a test at his home in China in September 2018.
Such action would usually result in a sanction but swimming's governing body FINA cleared Sun on a technicality.
The World Anti-Doping Agency appealed that decision to CAS, which heard the case last November.
Verhaeren said Australia's swim team would accept whatever ruling CAS announced later Friday.
"We all know in the world there is a lot of opinion about this case," he said.
"For us ... whatever the outcome is, we'll take it, we'll respect the outcome and the process that has been given.
"And we'll move on from there because the focus is really on (the) Tokyo (Olympics) and definitely not on this case."
Australia's Olympic 100m freestyle champion Kyle Chalmers said the Sun verdict would be largely irrelevant.
"I am in full support of my teammate Mack ... I support Mack and what Mack stands for," Chalmers said on Friday.
"It (Sun's case) is not something I have really looked into or something I will look into.
"I'm sure we will hear around pool deck but it's not something I'm going to be searching on google today."
