Swim: D'Arcy's dumping a no-brainer for Olympic boss

AAP General News (Australia)
04-18-2008
Swim: D'Arcy's dumping a no-brainer for Olympic boss

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By John Coomber, Senior Sports Writer

SYDNEY, April 18 AAP - There was never any chance that Nick D'Arcy would get on the
plane to Beijing with the rest of Australia's Olympic swimmers.

It is simply unthinkable that a man charged with such serious offences could march
into the stadium wearing his country's uniform, let alone be honoured on a medal dais.

As AOC boss John Coates said, representing Australia at the Olympics is a privilege
and the nation has high expectations of those who do.

Indeed, 12 of the 52 Australians of the Year named since the award began in 1960 have
been sports men and women, including Olympians Cathy Freeman, Rob De Castella, Shane Gould
and Dawn Fraser.

Fraser was no choir girl, having been slapped with a 10-year ban for a variety of misdemeanours
at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, including pinching a flag from the Emperor's palace.

Although swimming authorities later reduced the ban to four years, it ended Fraser's career.

Hi-jinx with flags is one thing. Breaking bones in someone's face is another matter altogether.

Regardless of the presumption of innocence, D'Arcy's Olympic dream ended with the punch
he allegedly threw at Simon Cowley in a Sydney bar last month.

The decision on whether D'Arcy had brought the Olympic team into disrepute was really
a no-brainer for Coates.

All he had to consider was the timing.

In the end, he chose the last business day before D'Arcy appears in court to face charges
of assault and assault causing grievous bodily harm, which carries a maximum sentence
of 10 years' jail.

Whatever the outcome of the judicial process, a single impulsive act has changed the
lives of two talented young men forever.

Cowley, 27, a triple Commonwealth champion, is now feeding through a straw and has
months of agonising recovery ahead of him. He will wear five titanium plates in his face
until the day he dies.

D'Arcy's swimming career is finished before his 21st birthday. His personal tragedy
is that his finest moment in the sport, a Commonwealth record that earned him Olympic
selection, also led to his downfall.

AAP jc/jds

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