Given the overwhelming scenario that confronts Shayna Jack, with her career on the line and the stigma of being a doper hovering over her head, the last thing she needed was to be fighting a war on another front.

And so the 20-year-old was quick to pour cold water on suggestions of a rift with Swimming Australia amid accusations it had abandoned her following the positive test for Ligandrol and pressured her to remain silent.

Australian swimmer Shayna Jack (left) and her mother Pauline (right) are seen leaving the briefing with ASADA.Credit:AAP

Beyond that, it was difficult to see how Swimming Australia could have manouvered any differently. Bound by a clunky and outdated agreement with ASADA, it could not disclose the news publicly without Jack’s consent. That policy should and will be up for discussion and will have repercussions for other sports.

Jack, meanwhile, had already said in her public statement that she kept the matter secret for the benefit of her teammates, who were still competing in Gwangju. In any case, Jack did not need Swimming Australia’s permission to speak out, should she have felt strongly enough. Under the rules, she could have contacted ASADA at any stage and revealed the real reason behind her sudden departure from the team.

Swimming Australia has become a convenient punching bag but the very nature of anti-doping offences makes it a lonely existence for the athlete. They cannot be around a team environment and Jack left the Dolphins hotel the morning after she had been given the news via a phone call from ASADA officials.

But Jack had hardly been hung out to dry. A Swimming Australia official had flown to Japan to accompany her on the flight back to Queensland and assistance was offered to help her find legal help, as well as access to a psychologist. Her coach, Dean Boxall, had been in regular contact from South Korea. And it has since emerged that Swimming Australia has been in touch with Jack every day since she arrived back in Australia to begin to formulate her defence.

The discussion now should be not be about whose head should roll but about wider doping policies and the lessons learnt from a difficult scenario that contained ethical and emotional angles, not just legal. There is no need for this to happen again.

Australia’s swimmers, regardless of how passionate they are about clean sport, must also rethink about how they express themselves in the ongoing fight against doping, especially with the world watching on at the Tokyo Olympics. Simply branding everyone a ‘drug cheat’ doesn’t advance the cause with any clarity and now the difficulties on the home front have been laid bare.

At the heart of it all is a young athlete who could well have swum her final race if she can’t prove her innocence. The coming months will be suspenseful enough without spotfires on either side.

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