A 17-year-old swimmer, who was one of the prospective participants at the 2026 Asian Games, has been suspended for 18 months after testing positive for a banned substance.The swimmer, who cannot be named as he is still a minor, has been suspended after his sample showed the presence of terbutaline, a beta-2 agonist banned under anti-doping rules.The teenager was issued an adverse analytical finding (AAF) in February this year. The Swimming Federation of India (SFI) subsequently had to withdraw his name from the Commonwealth Games. An athlete can use the substance provided he or she has already obtained a pre-approved therapeutic use exemption (TUE) from the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA).It is learnt that the swimmer, whose twin brother is part of the Asian Games team, suffered from smoke inhalation and took the prescribed medicine with a doctor’s approval.“He has been issued a suspension notice this morning. His only fault is that he did not cross-check whether the medicine had any banned substance in it,” a source close to the swimmer told The Tribune on Wednesday.The swimmer did not apply for a TUE before using the substance. The SFI, it is learnt, was bullish about his chances of participating in the Asian Games, provided he got a clean chit from NADA. However, on Wednesday, he was served with an 18-month suspension.It is understood that the swimmer had mentioned taking the drug on his doping control form as well. However, the anti-doping disciplinary panel still decided to suspend the minor.Consequent to his AAF and subsequent hearings before the NADA panel, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) dropped his name from the list of participants for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.