Outspoken anti-drugs campaigner Forbes Carlile has called on swimming's governing body to exclude China from next year's world championships. The veteran Australian coach has accused the Chinese of cheating following the astonishing results of their women swimmers at the National Games in China.

Carlile wants FINA to ban China from competing in the 1998 world championships in Perth despite FINA's earlier announcement that it has no plans to investigate the latest barrage of world record performances.

"FINA has got to take the strongest possible stand because I can tell you that swimmers and coaches from around the world don't want the Chinese there," Carlile told Reuters yesterday. Carlile said the astonishing results from the Chinese National Games last week was proof that drug use was rampant in China.

Wu Yanyan smashed the women's 200 metres individual medley world record on Friday, four days after Chen Yan shattered the 15-year-old world mark in the women's 400 metres individual medley. Neither swimmer made the final of either event at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

"You just don't get the sort of overnight miracles that they've apparently had," Carlile said.

Carlile also attacked a FINA proposal which suggested testing every swimmer competing in Perth before they entered the water.

"Nobody short of being an imbecile would turn up at a competition with steroids still in their systems," Carlile said.

"The only useful form of drug testing is unannounced drug testing by independent testers."