Any athlete who is an Olympic candidate, or intends to compete in a FISA world cup, world championship, or Olympic Qualification regatta, or is a member of the USADA Out of Competition Testing pool, that uses asthma medication or any other substance on the WADA prohibited substance list should begin the process of filing a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) form or Abbreviated Therapeutic Use Exemption (ATUE) form with FISA as soon as possible.

Athletes using any of the four restricted beta-2 agonists for asthma may file an ATUE. Athletes submitting an ATUE for asthma medications also must submit the results of a pulmonary function test. All other substances require a TUE.

For more information about WADA prohibited substances and methods and to check if your medication requires a (A)TUE, please reference the following Web sites.

USADA:
http://www.usada.org/misc/drug_information.aspx.

FISA:
http://www.worldrowing.com/index.php?pageid=101

Download the FISA ATUE:
http://www.worldrowing.com/medias/docs/media_354490.pdf

Download the FISA TUE:
http://www.worldrowing.com/medias/docs/media_354492.pdf

2008 Olympic Team physician Dr. Kristine Karlson recommends that anyone who has ever experienced asthma symptoms, even to the slightest degree, get tested for asthma as the air quality in Beijing has been triggering negative reactions in many athletes. Once on site in Beijing, if an athlete has not tested positive for asthma in the past and/or has not submitted an ATUE, Dr. Karlson will not be able to treat them. If you have any questions about whether you should be tested, feel free to contact her at kristine.a.karlson@hitchcock.org.

Once you have completed the appropriate form and attached the results of a pulmonary test (if necessary), please submit the forms by mail or fax to:

Margaux Jackson
2 Wall Street
Princeton, NJ 08540
609.924.1578 (fax)

If you have any questions, please contact Margaux Jackson at margaux@usrowing.org, or 609.751.0714.