<table> </table> Former Kansas City Blazers club swimmer Max Jaben, who qualified with Israel for the 2008 Olympic Games, acknowledged Thursday that he had tested positive for the anabolic steroid boldenone.</p><p>Reached via phone in Israel on Thursday, Jaben ardently declared his innocence and said he was &#8220;fully ready to fight this to the end.&#8221;</p><p>Jaben said he was awaiting the results of an analysis of his &#8220;B&#8221; sample from a drug test administered in April, though he admitted his Olympic dreams were in serious doubt.</p><p>&#8220;There is a chance that I still could be in the Olympics. Is it a good chance? I would like to say it is, but it&#8217;s not,&#8221; Jaben said. &#8220;I&#8217;m very optimistic. &#8230; However this is a sticky situation in sports. If you test positive for something, many people aren&#8217;t interested in your truth. They&#8217;re only interested in the positive drug test.&#8221;</p><p>The failed test was reported last week by the <em>Jerusalem Post</em>, which said Jaben&#8217;s &#8220;A&#8221; urine sample contained traces of boldenone.</p><p>Jaben, who qualified in the 200-meter freestyle, continued training with the Israeli national team in Spain before returning to Israel on Wednesday to meet with his lawyers. In his interview with <em>The Star </em>on Thursday, Jaben confirmed the specifics of the failed test, as contained in the <em>Jerusalem Post </em>report, and emphatically denied any steroid use past or present.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t have a clue what (boldenone) is,&#8221; he said. &#8220;If you would have asked me before this happened if I had ever heard of this thing, I would have told you no. I really can&#8217;t believe this is happening to me. &#8230; I&#8217;ve never taken a steroid.&#8221;</p><p>Jaben, a 2004 Blue Valley High School graduate, swam at the University of Florida before leaving the school. He eventually transferred to Missouri and joined the Tigers&#8217; swim team in January 2007. He wasn&#8217;t eligible to compete that year after transferring, but he trained with the Tigers while regaining his form in the pool.</p><p>In April, Jaben recounted to <em>The Star </em>how he had contemplated giving up swimming before finding a new environment and encouragement at Missouri. In the meantime, he worked to attain Israeli citizenship. In March, he competed for Israel at the European Championships and qualified there for the Olympics.</p><p>Now all of that is in doubt.</p><p>&#8220;I felt like a plane crashed. I went from being on top of the world. As of right now, it&#8217;s all gone,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a horrible feeling, something that I&#8217;ve never imagined feeling. &#8230; As a sportsman, this is the lowest low that you can go.&#8221;</p><p>The drug test in question was administered in April after the Israeli national team returned from training in Mexico, Jaben said.</p><p>When he learned earlier this month of the failed test, he quickly hired a legal team. They have alternative theories for the failed test, but he said he didn&#8217;t want to disclose them.</p><p>Peter Malone, head coach and general manager of the Kansas City Blazers, said he had spoken to Jaben early last week, a day after Jaben received word of the failed test.</p><p>&#8220;He doesn&#8217;t feel he did anything wrong,&#8221; Malone said. &#8220;He certainly understands that there&#8217;s very few (&#8220;A&#8221;) samples that get overridden. There are some.&#8221;</p><p>Jaben said he has the support of the Israeli national team as he awaits the result of the &#8220;B&#8221; sample test, which could come any time now. If that sample tests negative, he will be cleared, he said. If it doesn&#8217;t, he will keep fighting.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m keeping it in perspective,&#8221; Jaben said. &#8220;I&#8217;ve always dreamed for this, but if this is the very worst thing that&#8217;s going to happen in my life &#8230; it&#8217;s really not that bad. That&#8217;s how I&#8217;m trying to go about it, and I think my innocence is going to come out.&#8221;