Armstrong set for return to sport

Lance Armstrong is planning to make a return to competitive sport as a swimmer this weekend.

The disgraced American cyclist, who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles after being part of a doping scandal, is entered for the Masters South Central Zone Swimming Championships which takes place at the University of Texas.

Armstrong is billed to compete in freestyle races over 500 yards, 1,000 yards and 1,650 yards at the event held in his home city of Austin.

The meeting is a US Masters Swimming event, and although he is banned for life from all competitions that adhere to either the US Anti-Doping Agency or World Anti-Doping Agency codes, which means all high-profile professional and amateur sport, the low-profile Austin event falls outside those restrictions.

The championships are open to all ages but most competitors are veteran swimmers.

Armstrong, aged 41, will be racing against swimmers mostly older than he is.

He appears on the start list for the events on the championship’s website and appeared to confirm he would race when he engaged briefly in dialogue on the races on Twitter, suggesting he would struggle to break the five-minute mark for 500 yards.

US Masters Swimming executive director Rob Butcher said nobody had raised formal objections to Armstrong competing, according to the Austin American-Statesman. Butcher said: “The purpose of our organisation is to encourage adults to swim.”

Armstrong, who came clean on his doping past in a television interview in January, is due to be in action in the 1,650-yard freestyle tomorrow night, when the three-day meeting gets under way.