it's not just barry...

World-class professional surfer Percy "Neco" Padaratz Jr. has been stripped of his 2005 points and banned from competition for the rest of the year after testing positive for steroids, a surfing official said Wednesday.

Padaratz, 29, tested positive for three types of steroids, according to the official. He failed a random drug test conducted last fall at a competition in France, results of which became available in July.

Padaratz acknowledged that he had been using the drugs without a doctor's supervision to help a back injury, said Robert Gerard of Newport Beach, the rules and discipline judge for the Association of Surfing Professionals.