updated 6:51 p.m. ET Aug. 20, 2004

American swimmer Aaron Peirsol’s temporary disqualification in the 200-meter backstroke at the Olympic pool was the result of a blank judges’ report, a high-ranking swimming official said Friday.

Initially, no one could explain why Peirsol’s victory Thursday was taken away and then given back 30 minutes later. Officials said only that a lane judge’s report of an illegal move on Peirsol’s final turn was “not in the working language of FINA,” the sport’s world governing body.

It turns out there was no language at all — the judge’s card was blank, FINA executive director Cornel Marculescu said.

Marculescu confirmed that lane judge Denis Cadon of France signaled a violation and that chief officer Felix Mikhailov of Russia and referee Woon Sui Kut of Singapore signed off on the blank report.

“Normally, they would write what violation was made,” Marculescu said.

Marculescu said Woon, who was in charge on the pool deck, speaks fluent English; the working languages of FINA are English and French. Woon could be banned for not following procedure.

“Unfortunately, he signed the report with nothing written on it. It’s really strange,” Marculescu said. “Probably, the FINA bureau will look at him in the coming days.”

Marculescu said no decision had been made about the judges yet, but that there would almost certainly be some rule clarifications made at the FINA Congress in Montreal during next year’s world championships.

Cadon, the French judge, maintained Friday that he was correct to report Peirsol for an illegal turn.

Peirsol was disqualified originally after Cadon said he illegally rolled on his stomach and kicked off the wall on one of his turns. Peirsollater won an appeal allowing him to be reinstated as the gold medalist.

“There was a problem, there was a fault,” Cadon, a judge with 25 years experience, said. “I did my job, I’m here for that.”

Peirsol, meanwhile, said he didn't do anything wrong.

“I knew I didn’t do anything wrong,” he said. “It was a rollercoaster. I am sad for those who thought they were on the podium and were then thrown out of it after my race was made valid.”

Peirsol, the world record-holder and current world champion, led most of the race and easily beat the field, touching first in 1 minute, 54.95 seconds. He was more than two seconds ahead of the next swimmer, Austria’s Marcus Rogan.

Rogan wound up with silver in 1:57.35, while Romania’s Razvan Florea settled for bronze (1:57.56). Britain’s James Goddard, who initially had a bronze, dropped back to fourth in 1:57.76.

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